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DEDICATION 



OF THE 



EQUESTRIAN STATUE 



OF 



Major-General John Sedgwick 



ERECTED ON THE 



BATTLEFIELD OF GETTYSBURG 



BY THE 



STATE OF CONNECTICUT 



JUNE 19, 1913 



„, iXt^-f 









HARTFORD 
PUBLISHED BY THE STATE 

1913 



D. OP ft. 
JUN 18 19H 






Publication 

AprROVED BY 

The Board of Control 



The Mattatuck Press Inc. 
Waterbury, Conn. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Equestrian Monument, North Side Frontispiece 

Equestrian Monument, South Side, Frontispiece 

General Charles Pine, Commissioner 14 

Lieutenant Orsamus R. Fyler, Commissioner 16 

Monuments designed by H. K. Bush-Brown' 18 

Group of Commissioners at Monument June 19, 1913 20 

Charles F. Linsley, Commissioner 22 

W. F. Hilton, Chaplain G. A. R. of Connecticut 24 

Rockwell Harmon Potter, Commissioner 26 

Elisha J. Steele, Commissioner 28 

Dwight C. Kilbourn, Commissioner 30 

Major General John Sedgwick — bust 32 

Major General John Sedgwick — full length 34 

Plan of Getttysburg Battlefield 36 

Sixth Corps Battery at Left Fourteenth Connecticut Infantry . . . 38 

Sixth Corps Battery at High Water Mark 40 

Sixth Corps Battery at Center of Pickett's Charge 44 

Colonel Andrew Cowan 46 

Sedgwick's Home at Cornwall 48 

Monument at his Grave 50 

The Battell Monument at Cornwall 52 

Monument at West Point 54 

Monument at Spottsylvania 56 

H. K. Bush-Brown 58 

The General's Horse, "Handsome Joe - ' 62 

The General's Horse, "Cornwall,'' "Old Pig"' 64 

Frank B. Weeks, Ex-Governor of Connecticut 66 

Henry Breckinridge, Assistant Secretary of War 68 

Group of Friends at Monument June 19, 1913 70 

Uncle John and Staff at Brandy Station 78 

Simeon E. Baldwin, Governor of Connecticut 80 

Professor John A. Himes of Gettysburg 82 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

List of Illustrations 5 

Introductory Note 9 

Act of Legislature 15 

Report of Commission 17 

The Sculptor's Memorandum 19 

Tablets and Inscriptions 20 

The Statue 21 

Presentation Proceedings 22 

Program 23 

Prayer 24 

Unveiling 25 

Oration 26 

Historical Address 3 1 

Sculptor's Address 59 

Address of William J. Wray 60 

Address of Professor J. A. Hknes 63 

Transfer of Monument '. 65 

Address of Ex-Governor F. B. Weeks 66 

Acceptance by Hon. Henry Breckinridge 68 

SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS BY SIXTH CORPS 
MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION. 

Dedication 77 

Memorial Service 78 

Names of Memorial Committee 79 

Governor Simeon E. Baldwin's Address 80 

Address of General Horatio C. King 81 

Report of Secretary Sixth Corps Sedgwick Monument Committee . 83 

Acknowledgment ^7 

Financial Report *° 

Memorial Poem by Hon. G. H. Hollister 80 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



The Commission instructed its Secretary to prepare a report 
of its proceedings. In compliance, he has told the story of the 
doings of the Commission, and its successful efforts to erect a 
statue of General Sedgwick, that shall be for all time a source of 
pride to the citizens of Connecticut. In doing this he has followed 
the ordinary forms of previous commissions for similar purposes. 

He has also incorporated with it some matters not exactly 
germane to the work of the Commission from a business point of 
view because he believed that the people of this State ought to 
know and would like to know something of General Sedgwick's 
life, which would be more than a dry account of facts which are 
not generally known, or if known, have been forgotten in the 
years that have passed since his death on the field of battle. It 
has been more than fifty years since the events occurred in which 
General Sedgwick won the fame of which Connecticut may so 
well be proud, events which placed the sons of Connecticut in the 
front rank of those who sustained our country and its flag. 

It is unnecessary for me to state that it is a pleasure and an 
honor for me as the Secretary of this Memorial Commission to 
be thus closely identified in the preparation of this report by 
reason of the fact that I have had a long and intimate acquaint- 
ance with the Sedgwick family, and have often been detailed by 
the State Department of the Connecticut G. A. R. to conduct 
services at the General's grave on Memorial Day. The writer 
possesses the flag that was used by the General at Gettysburg, 
which is probably the one under which he was killed at Spottsyl- 
vania. The Secretary was able to furnish the sculptor with the 
coat worn by General Sedgwick, also with pictures of his horses 
from original Brady photographs, and of the sabre he used, and 
was thus able in many ways to be of assistance to the sculptor in 
the execution of his design. 



As a member of a valiant regiment of the Sixth Corps, it is 
an unspeakable pleasure to recount the story of the one who, of 
all others, served to make the flag bearing the Greek Cross upon 
its folds the emblem of that high courage which was manifested 
on many battlefields of the Civil War. 

One hundred years ago today while Commodore Perry's guns 
were humbling the British fleet upon the waters of Lake Erie, 
John Sedgwick, this son of New England, was born in the rural 
vale of Cornwall Hollow. Forty-five years ago today, the writer 
stood with one of the surviving Commodores of the Lake Erie 
Fleet, at Sandusky, Ohio, while the citizens were dedicating with 
imposing ceremonies, a monument in honor of the glorious vic- 
tory of Commodore Perry. Little did he think that he would live 
to hear of the centennial celebration of that same victory, and 
much less that he would be writing such a message as this in 
honor and memory of one of the sons of his own county, the 
guns of whose battalions turned the tide of the Civil War and 
saved this Republic from destruction. 

There are included many pictures of scenes connected with 
this report, and of portraits of the persons who have aided in 
the undertaking, the collection of which has necessarily delayed 
the publication of these proceedings, but which will add to its 
historical value. 

It is the hope of the Commission that this book may prove, in 
word and picture, a fitting commemoration of the One Hundredth 
Anniversary of the birth of Major-General John Sedgwick. 

DwiGHT C. KlLBOURN, 

Secretary. 

Late of 2d Brigade, ist Division, 
6th Army Corps. 
Litchfield, Conn., Sept. 13, 1.913. 



To Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, 

Governor of the State of Connecticut-' 

The Commission appointed to erect an Equestrian Statue of 
Major-General John Sedgwick, on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, 
has the honor to submit to you their report which follows. 

Respectfully submitted by 










CKNKRAL CHARLES H. PINTK, CHAIRMAN COMMISSION. 



ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE 



The Commission was created by the Legislature of 1909, as 
provided for in House Bill No. 289, Making an Appropriation 
For an Equestrian Statue of Major-General John Sedg- 
wick, to be Erected on the Battlefield of Gettysburg. 

Resolved by this Assembly: Section 1. That the sum of 
twenty-five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated to be paid out 
of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the 
erection on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, in the State of Penn- 
sylvania, of a suitable equestrian statue of Major-General John 
Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Army Corps, United States 
Army. 

Sec. 2. Said statue shall be erected under the supervision and 
control, as to the location as aforesaid, design, inscriptions, and 
execution, of a commission to be composed of the Governor and 
five persons, residents of this state, to be appointed by the 
Governor on or before July 1, 1909, which Commission is 
hereby authorized and empowered to proceed, by themselves and 
such assistants as they find it necessary to employ, to locate the 
site, procure plans, designs, and specifications for such statue, and 
erect and complete such statue, and to do all things necessary to 
carry into full effect the purposes specified in this resolution. 

Sec. 3. The expenses incurred by such Commission for the 
design, location, and erection of said statue, and the inscriptions 
thereon, and the expenses incident thereto, shall be paid out of 
the moneys hereinbefore appropriated for that purpose, and the 
Comptroller is hereby authorized and directed to draw his orders 
on the Treasurer for the amount of such expenses, not exceeding 
in the aggregate the amount herein appropriated, on the presenta- 
tion of itemized vouchers approved by said Commission. 

Sec. 4. On the completion of said statue, said Commission 
shall make a report thereof to the Governor, setting forth the 
facts in connection therewith, and embodying therein a full and 
complete itemized account of all expenditures and outlays incurred 
in the execution of the work. 

Approved June 29, 1909. 

15 




LIEUTENANT ORSAMUS R. FYLER, COMMISSIONER. 



REPORT OF COMMISSION 



The Governor appointed General Charles H. Pine of Ansonia, 
Lieutenant Orasmus R. Fyler of Torrington, the Rev. Dr. Rock- 
well Harmon Potter of Hartford, Lieutenant Dwight C. Kilbourn 
of Litchfield and Sergeant Charles F. Linsley of Meriden, as such 
Commission. 

The Commission met and organized in Hartford on September 
r 3> T 9°9> an d chose the following officers: 

Governor Frank B. Weeks, President ex-officio. 

Charles H. Pine, Chairman. 

Dwight C. Kilbourn, Secretary. 

On the 22d of the same month the full Commission went to 
Gettysburg, and after a careful survey of the field and a full dis- 
cussion of the subject with the National Park Commission in 
charge of the Battlefield at Gettysburg, selected for the site of 
•the monument a lot on Sedgwick Avenue near the base of Little 
Round Top on the north, the identical place occupied by the 
general and his staff as their personal headquarters during the 
second and third days of the battle, after their historic forced 
march from Manchester. The National Park Commission very 
generously promised to grade and prepare the ground for the 
reception of the Connecticut monument. 

On November 22, 11)09, Lieutenant O. R. Fyler died and Gov- 
ernor Weeks appointed Elisha J. Steele of Torrington, a promi- 
nent member of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, to the 
vacancy occasioned by Lieutenant Fyler's death. Comrade Steele 
was subsequently elected Treasurer of the Commission. 

Another change occurred January 1, 1910, when Hon. Simeon 
F. Baldwin became the Governor of Connecticut and by vir- 
tue o^ his. office President of the Commission. In June, 1913, 



17 



Governor Simeon E. Baldwin being unable to be present at the 
dedication, delegated Hon. Frank B. Weeks his special repre- 
sentative to receive the monument for the state, and present 
it to the United States War Department. 

After the organization of the Commission it proceeded to 
select a design and contractor, and after many models had been 
submitted, all of them very meritorious, we selected, on May 9, 
1910, that one offered by Mr. H. K. Bush-Brown as most in 
accord with our ideas, and made a contract with him. His de- 
sign was accompanied by specifications which seemed to be about 
what the state desired. 

Before placing a contract with Mr. Brown the Commission 
examined several of his works, and we briefly refer to them to 
assure the state that he is an artist of first rank in such equestrian 
work. We include a plate of some of them as a tribute to his 
genius : Meade Equestrian Statue at Gettysburg, Gen. Reynolds 
Equestrian Statue at Gettysburg, Gen. Anthony Wayne Eques- 
trian Statue at Valley Forge, Lincoln Memorial at the National 
Cemetery at Gettysburg, and also include the present one of Gen. 
Sedgwick at Gettysburg. 

The Commission have taken great care in the erection of this 
statue, have consulted with very many eminent artists about 
its details — and we wish to thank them here for their kind 
suggestions and criticisms — and also with the acquaintances and 
•comrades of the general in reference to the likeness, position and 
form. How well we have succeeded it remains for you and for 
future generations to determine. 



18 




EQUESTRIAN STATUES AXD LINCOLN MEMORIAL 
DESIGNED BY H. K. BUSH-BROWN. 



THE SCULPTOR'S MEMORANDUM OF 
DESIGN 



As the statue is to be placed on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, 
I have endeavored to represent General Sedgwick as he might 
have appeared on his arrival there, overlooking that part of the 
field which his troops were to occupy. 

The horse with head erect and his whole expression alert to 
the situation. 

The size of the statue to be one and one-half life size. 

The pedestal to be of polished Stony Creek granite, in two 
pieces, as shown in the design. The size of the pedestal to be 
about 12 feet by 6 feet by 53^ feet. 

The pedestal to have a platform 28 feet x 22 feet, surrounded 
by a coping of granite on a 3 foot foundation and filled in with 
concrete and pebble surface. 

I am convinced that a low pedestal is decidedly the best for 
the reason that the rider is the important part to be seen, and 
should be within an angle of forty-five degrees from the beholder. 

The plaza about the statue to be about 60 feet in diameter, 
mounded up three or four feet, bounded by a gravel walk in the 
form of an ellipse. The walk to be bordered on the outside by 
a Boxwood or a Japanese Barberry Hedge, which hedge should 
continue on each side of the pathway approach from the road, as 
shown in the bird's eye view drawing. 

The foundations to be the full size of the base of the pedestal 
and to be 5 feet deep and to be of the best concrete. 

I will make the statue in the best manner possible according 
to design and have the same cast in Standard Bronze, erect the 
same on a pedestal, following these specifications in the most 
workmanlike manner, and have the whole completed within three 
years from the signing of the contract. 

Respectfully submitted. 

H. K. Bush-Brown. 

19 



THE TABLETS AND INSCRIPTIONS 



Right. Bronze Tablet inscribed : 

Major-General John Sedgwick, 

Born at Cornwall, Conn.. September 13, 1813, 

Killed at Spottsylvania, Va., May 9th, 1864. 

In command of 

The Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, 

at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 

The Wilderness and Spottsylvania. 

Left. Bronze Tablet inscribed : 

Erected by the State of Connecticut in 
grateful memory of the service given 
to the Nation by her honored son, 

JOHN SEDGWICK, 
loyal citizen, illustrious soldier, 
beloved commander. 

Front. Bronze Tablet. 

The Seal of Connecticut. The name 
"SEDGWICK" cut in the granite base. 

Rear. Bronze Tablet. 

The Sixth Army Corps Badge. 




20 




AT GETTYSBURG, JUNE 19, I913 — THE ARTIST AND THE COMMISSION 



THE STATUE 



The statue itself is of standard bronze in heroic size. The 
horse is modeled after one of the horses that the general rode 
in service, called "Handsome Joe," a photograph of which was 
found among his papers at his former home in Cornwall Hollow. 
The figure of the general is modeled from the best obtainable 
pictures and portraits of him. The saber is a facsimile of the 
one he carried in this action and which after his death was placed 
with the Historical Society of Hartford. 

The design of the artist is to represent the General looking 
over the field toward the wheat field and peach orchard where 
there was desperate fighting in progress, the horse taking as 
much interest in the bloody fray as his illustrious rider. The 
artist himself, Mr. H. K. Bush-Brown, has given me the follow- 
ing technical description of the work : The statue is about fifteen 
feet high on a six foot pedestal composed of two stones, from 
the Norcross Brothers' quarry at Stony Creek, Connecticut. The 
sub-base is 30 feet by 22 feet on a mound five feet above grade. 
The field where it is placed is surrounded by trees forming a 
natural ampitheatre, making a most impressive effect on approach 
from either way. The bronze casting was by Bureau Brothers 
of Philadelphia. 

Early in June, 1913, the Commission, after many visits to 
Gettysburg and Washington, inspecting the models and the work, 
decided to present the statue to the state on the 19th of June, and 
issued notices in the various newspapers, and also circulars ana 
letters, that the presentation would take place on the 19th ol 
June, at which time the transfer was to be made to the State of 
Connecticut, and by its representative delivered over to the Sec- 
retary of War, who received it in behalf of the National Govern- 
ment. The following is a report of such presentation : 

21 



PRESENTATION 



The exercises attendant upon the presentation to the United 
States Government of the equestrian statue, erected by the State 
of Connecticut in honor of General John Sedgwick, upon the 
Battlefield of Gettysburg, took place on the 19th of June at the 
monument. A large number of people were present, estimated 
at about 500, with four companies of the Fifth U. S. Infantry. 
A good many members of the Sixth Army Corps veterans, who 
served in the Civil War, attended. About twenty of the relatives 
of the general came from Connecticut and elsewhere to testify 
to their loving regard for the hero. 

A platform was erected near the monument on which were 
seated the members of the Commission, Ex-Governor Frank B. 
Weeks, the Assistant Secretary of War, the officers of the Fifth 
U. S. Infantry, the Sedgwick relatives, many of the old Sixth 
Army Corps — in all about one hundred. A great assembly of 
autos filled Sedgwick Avenue, in which were many spectators. 
The pedestal of the monument was very handsomely draped with 
U. S. Mags, leaving the statue itself uncovered. On the rostrum 
was hung a copy of the Sixth Army Corps headquarters flags, 
and an original flag of the second division of that corps, which 
General Wright said was in the battle of Gettysburg fifty years 
ago. 

General Charles H. Pine, Chairman of the Commission, pre- 
sided, and the services were opened at 10.45 a - m - by the assembly 
call from the trumpeters of the Fifth U. S. Infantry. 

The following was the complete order of exercises : 



22 




CHARLES F. EIXSEEY, COMMISSIONER. 



PROGRAM 



PRAYER 

Wm. F. Hilton, 
Chaplain, Dept. of Conn., G. A. R. 

ADDRESS 

Rev. Rockwell H. Potter, D. D. 

UNVEILING OF MONUMENT 

Dr. James T. Sedgwick 

HISTORICAL SKETCH 

Lieutenant D. C. Kilbourn 

the artist's eeeort 
Mr. H. K. Bush-Brown, Sculptor 

THE SIXTH ARMY CORPS 

W. J. Wray of Philadelphia 
Prof. John A. Himes of Gettysburg 

DELIVERY OF THE MONUMENT TO THE STATE OF 
CONNECTICUT 

General Charles H. Pine, 
Chairman of Commission 

ACCEPTANCE AND TRANSFER TO U. S. 
WAR DEPARTMENT 

Hon. Frank B. Weeks, 
Ex-Governor of Connecticut 

ACCEPTANCE 

Hon. Henry Breckinridge, 
Assistant Secretary of War 

MUSIC 

"America" 

TAPS 

Trumpeters Fifth U. S. Infantry 

BENEDICTION 

Chaplain Hilton 



23 



PRAYER 



William F. Hilton of Hartford, Chaplain of the Department 
of Connecticut Grand Army of the Republic, and who as a soldier 
in the war participated in the I'attle of Gettysburg, offered the 
following invocation : 

Almighty God our Heavenly Father, with grateful hearts and 
thankful spirit we draw near to Thee to invoke Thy gracious 
favor upon these exercises. 

We are gathered here, where in the long ago these hills and 
valleys thundered the voice of Thy righteousness against the un- 
righteousness of a cause, which, in its mistaken zeal, sought to 
break that sacred tie that bound us in a national union. 

We thank Thee () our God, that Thy voice was heard and 
prevailed, and we praise Thy holy name that we are among those 
who, spared by Thine unfailing mercy, are permitted to come 
before Thee at this time to express our loyalty to our glorious 
heritage and our deepest gratitude to Thee who guidest unerringly 
and doest all things well. Wilt Thou be pleased to command a 
rich blessing upon all who in any way take part in giving emphasis 
to the grandeur and glory of this solemn occasion, and may the 
sweet spirit of Jesus, who gave His life to make men free, rule 
in all our hearts and renew within us a new devotion to be faith- 
ful to Thyself who hast dealt so graciously with us. 

And as these hills are now silent and the angry tones of war 
are hushed, may the peace of God, our God, abide with us for- 
ever. 

We ask this in the name of Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



24 




WM. F. HILTOX, CHAPLAIN G. A. R. DEFT. OF COXX. 



UNVEILING 



Dr. James T. Sedgwick, of Litchfield, a distant relative of 
the General, a member of the Connecticut Legislature of 1909- 
1911-1913 who introduced the Resolution calling for the erection 
of this equestrian statue, then unveiled the monument amid 
cheers of the audience and a salute from the trumpeters. 



25 



ORATION 



Rev. Rockwell Harmon Potter, D. D., of Hartford, then de- 
livered the following oration. 

It is one hundred years since John Sedgwick was horn, high 
up among the Litchfield hills of Connecticut, to write his name 
bright in the shining list of those who have made the name of 
Litchfield dear to the hearts of men through the mighty service 
they have rendered. It is fifty years since, at the head of the 
Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac, Major-General John 
Sedgwick rode upon this memorable field of battle at the very 
spot upon which we now dedicate this memorial of his patriotic 
life and service. It is forty-nine years since his career closed 
in tragic death and his life went out in that full measure of 
devotion winch a soldier gives for his country. 

This may seem to be a tardy recognition by the state which 
was honored by his citizenship, of the service which he rendered 
to her and which through him she rendered to the nation in the 
hour of its gravest peril. Put true greatness is not impatient 
as it waits for recognition and the supreme service of the patriot 
well affords the slow passing of the years, for in the presence of 
his majestic spirit they move swiftly, and against the background 
of the passing of a generation we see more clearly the worth 
which we commemorate. It is not because her heart was slow to 
know his worth, nor because her eyes were blind to see the value 
of Ids life and service that Connecticut has waited through the 
years until the eve of the semi-centennial of the great battle to 
place upon this sacred soil the imperishable stone and bronze 
which shall testify to the future that Sedgwick was her son, that 
in life and death her pride and love were given in full measure 
unto him. It is because Connecticut knew him and knew the 
work that he wrought and had confidence in her people that they 
would not forget this solemn task or fail in the exercise of this 

26 




REV. ROCKWELL HARMON POTTER, COMMISSIONER. 



holy privilege, that she has reserved to this younger generation 
the hour which has now gathered us and the task which is now 
consummated. 

My colleague upon the Commission will speak more particu- 
larly of the story of General Sedgwick's life and service. Let it 
be my privilege, hastily reviewing those facts of his life which we 
men of the younger generation will cherish, to speak of the vener- 
ation and love in which we hold his memory and the memory of 
the brave men who here with him offered themselves for our 
nation's life. 

To John Sedgwick was given the great and goodly heritage 
of a true son of New England. His family of North English 
stock, espousing the principles of the liberal Puritan movements, 
came naturally to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the second 
decade of its settlement, and naturally again came with its more 
progressive element through the wilderness into Connecticut, 
following the trail blazed by the intrepid spirit of Thomas Hooker. 
Pioneers ever, they made their way from the Connecticut Valley 
to the hills of Litchfield in the eighteenth century, and there heard 
the call of liberty sounded from Lexington, and eagerly responded 
to that call. General Sedgwick's grandfather, John S. Sedg- 
wick, having raised a company among his fellow townsmen in 
Cornwall, marched northward to offer his services to the 
Continental Army at Ticonderoga. At Sheffield he heard 
the news that the Tory element of his town in thought- 
less rage had burned his home. Sending his men for- 
ward he returned for a little to find that his loyal friends and 
neighbors rallied eagerly to his help and built anew the house that 
had thus been destroyed as a sacrifice to his patriotism. He re- 
sumed his place among his men, became a major of the Con- 
tinental troops, a friend and confidant of General Washington, 
with whom he shared the rigors of the fearful winter at Valley 
Forge. The memories of these pioneer and patriotic men whose 
blood ran in his veins summoned John Sedgwick to a life of noble 
loyalty to his country, a summons which he answered by offering 
himself to the army in accepting an appointment as a cadet at 

27 



West Point. In 1833, at the age of twenty, he entered that school 
of the soldier, graduating in 1837, and serving in the hard tasks 
of the soldiers of the earlier decades of the last century in the 
South, the Southwest and the West. In the glorious war with 
Mexico he bore an honorable part, winning the commendation of 
his superiors and the loyalty of his comrades. By experiences 
such as these he had become fitted when the rebellion broke, to 
bear a significant part in the great task which was then committed 
to the trained soldiers of the Union. 

At the beginning of the war he was appointed a colonel, and 
it must have been with mingled emotions that he accepted that 
commission, directly succeeding his comrade and friend of many 
years, Robert E. Lee. He was speedily promoted to be brigadier- 
general and then major-general. Of his distinguished service in 
saving the day at Fair Oaks, on the deadly field at Antietam 
where he suffered severe wounds, and at Fredericksburg, only a 
soldier should speak. 

On his transfer in January, '63, to the command of the Sixth 
Corps, the commissioned officers who had served under him in 
his division of the Second Corps presented to him a testimonial 
rich with gifts and richer still with the expression of their admira- 
tion for his character and ability, and of their regard and respect. 
It was as the commander of the Sixth Corps that he made that 
fateful and fearful march of thirty-six miles on the night of 
July 1, '63, which brought him in mid-day of the second day's 
battle to this spot. The men of the Sixth Corps had known and 
loved General William B. Franklin and General W. F. "Baldy" 
Smith, but they knew a hero when they saw one and right eagerly 
and loyally did they give their affection to their new chief. The six 
months between January and July had taught them devotion great 
enough to inspire the almost superhuman endeavor of that march 
and the truly divine consecration with which back of these hills 
they rested on their guns, waiting for the word of him whom they 
fondly called "Uncle John'' to send them to their places of death 
in the fearful carnage at the front. 

In this baptism of fire their devotion to their commander 
was sealed. During the ten months that followed they marched 

28 



. yi 


1 


, 


WF 







EEISIIA J. STEELE, COMMISSIONER. 



with him, they fought with him, they suffered with him, they 
dared with him, and one is glad to say that they also found re- 
freshment of spirits in the genial humor, the friendly simplicity, 
the kind and fatherly love which he bore to them. Without wife 
or child his tender heart taught the "Fighting Sixth" to give him 
the devotion of sons, and at Spottsylvania on the 9th of May in 
'64, when the fateful ball of a sharpshooter fixed the kindly smile 
upon his face, where he braved death to give confidence to his 
men, the hearts of his regiment and brigades stopped their beating 
for a moment in the heat of the conflict, and the tears of strong 
men blotted out the sight of hostile bayonets and the blazing fire 
of the guns of hatred as they knew that in a chariot of fire the 
soul of their great commander had entered into peace. In the 
forest they built a bower and within it they laid his body, by it 
they filed, man by man, to say their last farewell. From the 
loving hands of these, his men, the nation took his pierced form 
and bore it from the capitol to the metropolis while thousands 
upon thousands looked upon his face, and at the journey's end 
among the hills of Litchfield, in old Cornwall Hollow, in the 
home that he had reverently builded to replace the house that had 
been built in tribute to his grandfather's patriotism, the people of 
the hills, the men of Connecticut, gathered to do him honor and 
to give expression to their sorrow and their sense of loss. In 
obedience to the command which his simple spirit gave even after 
his death, his family respectfully declined the honors of a military 
burial, and to the old burying place among the hills that he loved 
they carried his body, wrapped in the flag under which he fell, 
on his breast a wreath from the White House garden and over 
his brow the laurel of a nation's love. A simple stone marks the 
place where they laid him. Other soldiers, whose names are 
written in the world's history, lie beneath piles of marble and 
granite, but over none of them have the men with whom he served 
built a more beautiful or a more endearing monument than that 
which the love of the men of the Grand Army has built about the 
burial place of John Sedgwick. 

These are the things which we of this generation shall re- 
member, the outstanding facts of his life, the simplicity of his 
character, the firmness of his devotion to duty, the tenderness of 

29 



his soldier's heart. And these things we read in the love which 
his men bear him, rejoicing to know that in him the man was not 
lost in the soldier, but the soldier was transfigured in the man. 

In his truly great oration at the dedication of the statue 
placed at West Point by the men of the Sixth Corps, to the mem- 
ory of Sedgwick, George William Curtis pointed out the momen- 
tous issues of the great war upon whose typical and critical 
battlefield we leave this monument to the memory of this son of 
Connecticut : "That struggle is as old as history. It is fought 
by the tongue and pen as earnestly as with the sword and shell. 
It is the contest for the largest individual freedom." As the 
years pass we see more clearly the truth of these words. Is it 
not true also that we see more clearly how complex was the 
issue of that mighty contest? On the one hand individual liberty, 
on the other hand social solidarity, but in the strangely mingled 
complex of human affairs it came about that on each side of this 
valley of death men believed they were fighting for these great 
truths. After a half century we perceive how vast was the cost 
of the conflict, we perceive also how precious is the heritage which 
it preserved and the achievement which it bequeathed. Xow we 
know that the flag which in it was baptized in blood, in a conflict 
the greatest of modern times and, please God, the last 
of modern times for our nation, has taken on new mean- 
ing. Each star shines with the truth of individual responsi- 
bility and individual freedom ; each stripe proclaims the truth of 
social solidarity and national integrity. For the men whose life 
and service and sacrificce have given us this truth, we of this 
new day declare our reverent affection for the principles which 
they made clear and to the nation which thev have bequeathed 
to us in its integrity, we pledge our sacred honor. In the com- 
mon tasks of life, in the plain duties of citizenship, in the achieve- 
ment of national brotherhood, in the hope of worldwide humanity, 
if it please God, we will be loyal. And, if it be His will, in the 
day of danger and in the hour of peril, when duty calls, we shall 
pray that we be not unworthy of those who are gone before us, 
among whose shining names grows brighter with the passing of 
the years the legend "John Sedgwick." 



30 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS 



Hon. Dwight C. Kilbourn, President of the Connecticut Regi- 
mental Veterans' Association and Secretary of the Sedgwick 
Monument Commission, delivered the following address : 

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellency Ex.-Gov. Weeks, Veterans of the 
Sixth Army Corps, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

A century ago the hero to whose memory our state is adding 
another garland, along with the many already given, was born in the 
little town of Cornwall, Conn. Of an ancestry of military and civil 
prominence for generations, he began his life among the rugged 
hills and green valleys of the Berkshire mountains, of which many 
years thereafter he exclaimed, as he stood on his own doorstep, 
"Is there another spot on earth so beautiful as Cornwall Hollow !" 

John Sedgwick as a boy endured all the usual pleasant experi- 
ences of "the barefoot boy," and as a young man even kept school 
for a couple of terms, which, his sister says, were more enjoyable 
to the pupils than educational. He became, however, anxious to 
achieve a larger life. Through the recommendation of United 
States Senator Hon. Jabez Huntington he was allowed to enter, 
in 1833, the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. He was 
recommended by a letter saying, "I believe if permitted to enjoy 
that privilege he would do honor to the institution and become of 
some service to this country." His appearance before the ex- 
amining board did not, however, presage great honors or very 
flattering encouragement, for they told him that it would be no 
use for him to remain, as he could never pass the second examina- 
tion, even if he did the first. John Sedgwick was not built that 
way, and in July, 1837, he graduated with honor, gaining a rank 
of second lieutenant of artillery, the twenty-fourth in a class of 
fifty. 

3i 



MILITARY HISTORY OF GENERAL SEDGWICK. 

The military life of General Sedgwick until 1861 was one of 
constant activity, seldom receiving a brief leave of absence to visit 
the loved ones at Cornwall Hollow. Cullum's Biographical Reg- 
ister gives his work of a quarter of a century as follows : 

Cadet at the U. S. Military Academy from July i, 1833, to 
July 1, 1837, when he was graduated and promoted in the army 
to Second Lieutenant, Second Artillery. July 1, 1837. 

Served in the Florida War against the Seminole Indians, 
1837-38, being engaged in the skirmish near Fort Clinch, May 
20, 1838; in the Cherokee Nation, 1838, while emigrating the 
Indians to the West; on recruiting service, 1838-9; on Northern 
Frontier during Canada Border Disturbances at Buffalo, N. Y., 
1839. (First Lieutenant, Second Artillery. April 19, 1839.) 
Fort Niagara, N. Y., 1839, an ^ Buffalo, N. Y., 1839-41 ; in gar- 
rison at Fort Monroe, Ya., 1841-43 ; Fort Columbus, N. Y., 1843- 
45; and Fort Adams, R. I., 1845-46; in the War with Mexico, 
being engaged in the Siege of Yera Cruz, March 9-29, 1847 ! Bat- 
tle of Cerro Gordo, April 17-18, 1847; Skirmish of Amazoque, 
May 14, 1847; Capture of San Antonio, Aug. 20, 1847; Battle of 
Churubusco, Aug. 20, 1847; Battle of Molino del Rev, Sept. 8, 
1847; Battle of Chapultepec, (Bvt. Capt. Aug. 20, 1847, f° r S a ^~ 
lant and meritorious conduct in the liattles of Contreras and 
Churubusco, Mex. ), Sept. 12-13, 1847, and assault and capture of 
the City of Mexico, Sept. 13-14, 1847. (Bvt. Major, Sept. 13, 
1847, f° r gallant and meritorious conduct in the Battle of 
Chapultepec, Mex. ) 

In garrison at Fort Columbus, N. Y., 1848; Fort Monroe, Ya., 
1848-49; Fort McHenry, Md., 1849-51 ; Fort Monroe, Ya., 1851- 
52. (Captain Second Artillery, Jan. 26, 1849.) 

Fort Henry, Md., 1852-55 ; and on frontier duty at Fort 
Leavenworth, Kan.. 1855, quelling Kansas Border Disturbances, 
1855-56. (Major First Cavalry, March 8, 1855.) 

Cheyenne Expedition, 1857, being engaged in the action on 
Solomon, Fork of the Kansas, July 28, 1857, and skirmish near 
Grand Saline, Aug. 6, 1857; Utah Expedition, 1857-58; Fort 

32 




PHOTOGRAPH OF MAJOR-GENERAE JOHN SEDGWICK. 
TAKEN BY BRADY JUST PREVIOUS TO SPOTTSYIA'A X 1 A. 



Leavenworth, Kansas, 1858; Fort Riley, Kansas, 1858-59, 1859- 
60; in command of Iowa Comanche Expedition, i860; and at 
Fort Wise, Col., 1860-61. 

Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861-64; 
in the defences of Washington, D. C, June to August 3, 1861. 
(Lieutenant-Colonel Second Cavalry, March 16, 1861.) (Col- 
onel First Cavalry, April 25, 1861 ; Fourth Cavalry, August 3, 
1 86 1.) As Acting Inspector-General of the Department of Wash- 
ington, August 3-12, 1 86 1 ; in command of brigade in the defences 
of Washington. D. C, August 12, 1861 to February 20, 1862; 
(Brigadier-General, U. S. Volunteers, August 31, 1861) in com- 
mand of division guarding the Potomac, about Poolsville, Md., 
February-March, 1862; in command of division (Army of the 
Potomac ) in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign, March to Au- 
gust, 1862, being engaged in the Siege of Yorktown, April 5 to 
May 4, 1862; Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31-June 1, 1862; Action 
of Peach Orchard, June 29, 1862; Battle of Savage Station, June 
29, 1862; and Battle of Glendale, June 30, 1862, where he was 
wounded; (Major-General U. S. Volunteers, July 4, 1862) ; in the 
Northern Virginia Campaign on the Retreat from Bull Run to 
Washington D. C, September 1-2, 1862; in the Maryland Cam- 
paign (Army of the Potomac) September, 1862, being engaged 
in the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, where he was 
severely wounded ; on sick leave of absence, disabled by wound, 
September 18 to December 22, 1862; in the Rappahannock Cam- 
paign, in command of the Ninth Corps, December 22, 1862, and 
of the Sixth Corps, February 5, 1863 (Army of the Potomac), 
being engaged in command at the Storming of Marye's Heights, 
May 3, 1863, and Battle of Salem Church, May 3-4, 1863 ; in the 
Pennsylvania Campaign, commanding Sixth Corps (Army of the 
Potomac) June- July, 1863, being engaged (after a forced march) in 
the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2-3, 1863, and pursuit of the enemy. 
At Warrenton, Va., July, 1863 ; in the Rapidan Campaign, Sep- 
tember-December, 1863, being in command of the right wing 
(Fifth and Sixth Corps) of the Army of the Potomac; in the 
Combat of Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863, and Opera- 
tions at Mine Run, November 26-December 3, [863 ; in the Rich- 

33 



mond Campaign, in command of the Sixth Corps (Army of the 
Potomac), May 4-9, 1864, being engaged in the Battle of the 
Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864, and while making personal reconnais- 
ance and directing the placing of some artillery for the Battle 
of Spottsylvania, was, by a sharp-shooter, killed, May 9, 1864. 
Aged 50. 

WILY ERECT STATUE AT GETTYSBURG. 

The question has been asked repeatedly of the compiler of this 
report as to what the particular reason was for placing this statue 
of General Sedgwick upon the battlefield of Gettysburg. With 
a view of answering this question I am going to give a little detail 
of the battle of Gettysburg, showing in some measure the reason 
the people of Connecticut are very greatly interested in this 
crucial event of the Civil War. 

Connecticut had in this battle five infantry regiments and one 
battery of light artillery and two batteries of heavy artillery. The 
Seventeenth Connecticut held the salient corner of the first day's 
fight, and at their monument on Barlow's Knoll, a United States 
flag is kept flying every day in the year. The Fifth Connecticut 
held a very important position at the defense of Culp's Hill. The 
Fourteenth Connecticut held the center of the line at the Angle on 
Cemetery Ridge, against Pickett's charge. The Twenty-seventh 
Connecticut held the rebel forces in check, at their charge at the 
Wheatfield, where Lieutenant-Colonel Merwin lost his life. The 
Twentieth Infantry held for seven hours the right of the Union 
line against Ewell's Corps. 

On the arrival of General Sedgwick with his Sixth Corps, in 
the afternoon of the second day's fight, General Meade's lines had 
been very much weakened by the severe fighting in which they 
had been engaged, a fact which General Lee well knew, and he 
would have succeeded in his attempt to turn the flanks of the 
Union Army had not the Sixth Corps been able to support 
Meade's exhausted soldiers. The Sixth Corps was broken up by 
the Union commander into small detachments, which were sent 
to various places in the lines to reinforcec where most needed, so 
that a person now visiting Gettysburg will see in almost every 

34 




GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK. FROM AN OLD PRINT. 



section of the line the Sixth Corps badges on the markers which 
show where the commands were. 

General Lee's plan for the third day's fight seems to have 
been to weaken General Meade's center by heavy engagements 
upon the Union right and left flanks, at the same time placing his 
Cavalry Corps under General Stuart, three or four miles east and 
in rear of the Union Army, and then by the charge known as 
General Pickett's charge, combined with the action of the cavalry, 
to crush General Meade's army in the center. 

It was a skilfully laid plan of battle, but owing to the defeat 
of General Stuart, by General Gregg and the Union Cavalry, 
Pickett's charge did not accomplish the object designed, the 
demoralization of the Union Army from the attack in its rear not 
having occurred. 

The general direction of Pickett's charge was towards what is 
known as a Clump of Trees, at which point there was the most 
desperate fighting, the Confederates entering and breaking 
through the Union line, and the point is known as the High Water 
Mark of the Rebellion. Here it was that the Sixth Corps suc- 
ceeded in breaking the Confederate charge, and turned the tide 
of war in favor of the Union, and our contention is that this was 
effected by one of General Sedgwick's Sixth Corps batteries, and 
that Connecticut is well entitled to a place of honor for one of 
its most distinguished generals. We make the further claim that 
the First New York Battery of the Sixth Corps by its heroic 
stand and action at The Angle, where this monument in the cut 
is erected, and on which is the motto, "Double Canister at 
Ten Yards, ' prevented the Confederates from entering the Union 
lines and saved the day and the nation. 

That this is not an overdrawn estimate of the importance and 
necessity of the services of General Sedgwick and his army corps 
at the close of the second day's fight, and the repulse of Pickett's 
charge on the afternoon of the third day, I will quote from an 
account in an old history written many years ago : "After an 
unprecedented march of some thirty-five miles, it reached the 
scene of action just on time to prevent a serious disaster to the 

35 



army. On receiving orders assigning it its position and with the 
information that its services were actually needed, the three 
divisions were moved simultaneously at double quick, in parallel 
lines and arrived on the line of battle at the crucial moment, just 
as the rebels, flushed with victory, were penetrating our lines to 
right of Round Top. Owing to the direction in which it approached, 
little more was necessary than to halt the lines and face to the 
right to bring the three lines of battle facing the enemy's advance, 
and to close the gap made by the enemy's onslaughts. The volley 
from our front, General Wright's, was perhaps the heaviest I 
have ever heard, and it had the effect not only of checking the 
enemy's triumphant advance, but of throwing his ranks into the 
utmost confusion. Doubtless the appearance of a fresh corps on 
the field at that opportune moment had much to do with the hasty 
retreat of the rebel columns. 

And it may be mentioned as illustrating the great necessity of 
the presence of Sedgwick's corps that Shaler's brigade, which so 
gallantly forced the rebels from their pits on the extreme right, 
was shifted from one command to another, time after time, after 
arriving on the field. 

Eustis' brigade of Massachusetts and Rhode Island troops 
gallantly supported the Third Corps, suffering a loss of many 
men. 

The influence of the Sixth Corps upon the fortunes of the day 
has been too little appreciated. It is certain that but for its 
presence the Union line must have been irretrievably broken and 
our army probably routed. Indeed, had it arrived half an hour 
later even, it would have been too late to do more than to cover 
the retreat of the Army of the Potomac. It is true it did not 
do much fighting, for darkness was nearly upon the battlefield, 
but it did all that was necessary or possible to do, and the Union 
Army and the Union cause were saved because this fighting corps 
marched to the support of the rest of the army as men had never 
marched before, and, arriving at the critical moment, turned the for- 
tunes of the day. The achievements of Sedgwick's Sixth Corps on 
the 2d of July, cheaply as they were bought in the loss of men, 

36 




MAP OF GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD. 



are among the proudest of those for which it wears its well-earned 
laurels. 

From a report of the battle I quote the following : "The 
First N. Y. Battery of the Sixth Corps, commanded by Captain 
Andrew Cowan, rendered eminent service in the repulse of Pick- 
ett's Division. During the cannonade preceding the assault upon 
the center of the Union line the battery served at the extreme 
right of Doubleday's Division of the First Corps, on Cemetery 
Ridge south of the 'clump of trees.' Battery B, First Regiment, 
N. Y. L. A., of the Second Corps, commanded by Captain Rorty, 
was at its right ; Brown's Battery B, First Regiment, Rhode 
Island Light Artillery, was at the right of Rorty's Battery, while 
Cushing's U. S. Battery was at the fight of the clump of trees. 
Brown's Battery was obliged to withdraw after the cannonade 
ceased, owing to severe losses and want of ammunition. 

"The First New York Battery then moved at a gallop from the 
left of Rorty's into the place that had been vacated by Brown's 
withdrawal. Pickett's Division of Virginians moved against that 
part of the line which was occupied by Gibbon's Division, com- 
prised of Webb's Philadelphia Brigade and Hall's and Harrow's 
Brigades, with Cushing's and Rorty's Batteries, all of the Second 
Corps, and the First New York Battery of the Sixth Corps." 

Captain Cowan, in his official report of the Gettysburg cam- 
paign, says of the service of his battery of July 3d: "I com- 
menced firing canister at 200 yards, and the effect was greater 
than I could have anticipated. My last charge (a double- 
header) literally swept the enemy from my front, being fired at 
less than 20 yards. The infantry in front of five of my pieces, 
* * * wavered and broke, but they were rallied and drawn off 
to the right of my battery by General Webb in a most gallant man- 
ner. It was then that I fired my last charge of canister, many 
of the rebels being over the defenses and within less than 10 yards 
of my pieces. They broke and fled in confusion. * * * My 
men performed their duty nobly. My loss was four privates 
killed instantly and one soon after died of his wounds, five enlisted 
men and two officers wounded. I lost 14 horses and 8 wheels 
were disabled." 

37 



general sedgwick's estimate. 

In a letter to his sister, dated July 17, 1863, he writes: "This is 
the first day in the last twenty days that we have not been on the 
move or engaged in the presence of the enemy, and it is a wet, dreary 
day. You have no doubt read that the enemy crossed the river at 
Williamsport on the 13th. Their forces are far superior in numbers 
to ours. I am tired of risking my Corps in such unequal contests. 

"The battle around Gettysburg were victorious, and had we 
been reinforced we could have made it a rout. Captain Halsted 
will write you today, giving you a sketch of our marches for the 
last few days." 

Captain Halsted writes: "We have been for the last few 
days having a very active campaign so far as marching is con- 
cerned at least. There is not much doubt that some of our 
marching has been much to Lee's damage, but still the battle of 
Gettysburg had to be fought. It was a terrible fight. The losses 
show it. I wish I could give you an idea of the Artillery fire. 
It was terrific. We at the Sixth Corps Headquarters were not 
in a good position to judge of it, for singular as it may seem 
almost the only spot not under fire was that occupied by us. 
Although there was only a small portion of the Corps engaged, 
there is no doubt that the fight was saved by that portion. We 
were! in reserve, which meant upon this occasion that the whole 
Corps was divided and sub-divided until the General had not a 
man or a gun under his command except a few orderlies. One 
brigade was sent to report to such a one, another to this position 
and a couple more to that, till there were no more left — till the 
General himself said he thought he might as well go home." 

On July 26 the General writes to his sister from Warrenton, 
Ya. : "Since I left Fredericksburg, now six weeks since it has 
been, the same thing, marching almost day and night, for many 
of our hardest marches have been made by nights. We have done an 
incredible amount of labor, if we have accomplished but little. I 
am worn out. 1 have not had any of my clothes off since leaving 
the Rappahanock. and the army and animals are exhausted. Y\ e 
have captured twelve thousand head of cattle and eight thousand 
head of sheep -that the enemy had driven from Pennsylvania." 

38 



GETTYSBURG BATTLE, JULY 3, l86l. 

It seems altogether proper to give a little account of the Battle 
of Gettysburg in which so many Connecticut soldiers took a part, 
especially the account of the third day, taken from the New York 
Times of July 4, 1863, and written on the field, under fire, by 
Mr. Wilkeson, one of the Times reporters. It must be remem- 
bered that Mr. Wilkeson's son was killed the day before while 
in command of a battery, which fact will explain some of the 
message. 

Headquarters Army of Potomac, 
Saturday Night, July 4. 

Who can write the history of a battle whose eyes are im- 
movably fastened upon a central figure of transcendingly absorb- 
ing interest — the dead body of an oldest born, crushed by a shell 
where a battery should never have been sent, and abandoned to 
death in a building where surgeons dared not to stay? 

The battle of Gettysburg ! I am told that it commenced on 
the first of July, a mile north of the town, between two weak 
brigades of infantry and some doomed artillery and the whole 
force of the rebel army. Among other costs of this error was 
the death of Reynolds. Its value was priceless, however, though 
priceless was the young and the old blood with which it was 
bought. The error put us on the defensive and gave us the choice 
of position. 

From the moment that our artillery and infantry rolled back 
through the main street of Gettysburg and rolled out of the town 
to the circle of eminences south of it, we were not to attack but 
to be attacked. The risks, the difficulties and the disadvantages 
of the coming battle were the enemy's. 

Ours were the heights for artillery ; ours the short inside lines 
for manoeuvering and reinforcing ; ours the cover of stone walls, 
fence and the crests of hills. The ground upon which we were 
driven to accept battle was wonderfully favorable to us. A popu- 
lar description of it would be to say that it was in form an 
elongated and somewhat sharpened horseshoe, with the toe to 
Gettysburg and the heel to the South. 

39 



Lee's plan of battle was simple. He massed his troops upon 
the east side of this shoe position, and thundered on it obstinately 
to break it. The shelling of our batteries from the nearest over- 
looking hill, and the unflinching courage and complete discipline 
of the Army of the Potomac repelled the attack. 

It was renewed at the point of the shoe — renewed desperately 
at the southwest heel — renewed on the western side with an 
effort consecrated to success by Ewell's earnest oaths, and on 
which the fate of the invasion of Pennsylvania was fully put at 
stake. Only a perfect infantry and artillery educated in the midst 
of charges of hostile brigades could possibly have sustained this 
assault. 

Hancock's corps did sustain it, and covered itself with im- 
mortal honors by its constancy and courage. The total wreck of 
Cushing's battery — the list of its killed and wounded — the losses 
of officers, men, and horses Cowan sustained — and the marvelous 
outspread upon the board of death of dead soldiers and dead 
animals — of dead soldiers in blue, and dead soldiers in gray- 
more marvelous to me than anything I have ever seen in war — 
are a ghastly and shocking testimony to the terrible fight of the 
Second Army Corps that none will gainsay. 
"A VERY iiki.i. of fire." 

For such details as I have the heart for ! The battle com- 
menced at daylight, on the side of the horseshoe position, exactly 
opposite to that which Ewell had sworn to crush through. 
Musketry preceded the rising of the sun. A thick wood veiled 
this fight, but out of its leafy darkness arose the smoke, and the 
surging and swelling of the fire, from intermittent to continued 
and crushing, told of the wise tactics of the rebels of attacking 
in force and changing their troops. 

Seemingly the attack of the day was to be made through that 
wood. The demonstration was protracted — it was absolutely 
preparative ; but there was no artillery fire accompanying the 
musketry, and shrewd officers on our western front mentioned, 
with the gravitv due to the fact, that the rebels had felled trees 



40 



at intervals upon the edge of the wood they occupied in face of 
our position. Those were breastworks for the protection of 
artillerymen. 

Suddenly, and about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, the firing on 
the east side, and everywhere about our lines, ceased. A silence 
as of deep sleep fell upon the field of battle. Our army cooked, 
ate and slumbered. The rebel army moved 120 guns to the west, 
and massed there Longstreet's corps and Hill's corps, to hurl 
them upon the really weakest point of our entire position. 

Eleven o'clock — 12 o'clock — 1 o'clock. In the shadow cast by 
the tiny farm-house, 16 by 20, which General Meade had made 
his headquarters, lay wearied staff officers and tired reporters. 
There was not wanting to the peacefulness of the scene the sing- 
ing of a bird, which had a nest in a peach tree within the tiny 
yard of the whitewashed cottage. 

In the midst of its warbling a shell screamed over the house, 
instantly followed by another, and another, and in a moment the 
air was full of the most complete artillery prelude to an infantry 
battle that was ever exhibited. Every size and form of shell 
known to British and American gunnery shrieked, whirled, 
moaned, whistled, and wrathfully fluttered over our ground. 

As many as six in a second, constantly two in a second, burst- 
ing and screaming over and around the headquarters, made a 
very hell of fire that amazed the oldest officers. They burst in 
the yard — burst next to the fence on both sides, garnished as 
usual with the hitched horses of aids and orderlies. The fastened 
horses reared and plunged with terror. Then one fell — then 
another — sixteen lay dead and mangled before the firing ceased, 
still fastened by their halters, which gave the expression of being 
wickedly tied up to die painfully. These brute victims of a hard, 
cruel war touched all hearts. 

AT MKADK'S HEADQUARTERS. 

A shell tore up the little step of the headquarters cottage, and 
ripped bags of oats as with a knife. Another soon carried off one 
of its two pillars. Soon a spherical case burst opposite the open 
door — another ripped through the low garret. The remaining 

41 



pillar went almost immediately to the howl of a fixed shot that 
Whitworth must have made. 

During this fire the horses at twenty and thirty feet distant 
were receiving their death, and soldiers in Federal blue were torn 
to pieces in the road and died with the peculiar yells that blend 
the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair. Xot an or- 
derly — not an ambulance — not a straggler was to be seen upon 
the plain swept by this tempest of orchestral death thirty min- 
utes after it commenced. Were not 120 pieces of artillery trying 
to cut from the field every battery we had in position to resist 
their purposed infantry attack, and to sweep away the slight 
defenses behind which our infantry was waiting? 

Forty minutes — fifty minutes — counted on watches that ran. 
oh ! so languidly. Shell through the lower rooms. A shell into 
the chimney that did not explode. Shells in the yard. The air 
thicker and fuller and more deafening with the howling and whir- 
ring of these infernal missiles. The chief of staff struck — Seth 
Williams, loved and respected through the army, separated from 
death by two inches of space vertically measured. An aid bored 
with a fragment of iron through the bone of the arm. Another 
cut with an exploded piece. And the time measured on the slug- 
gish watches was one hour and forty minutes. 

Then there was a lull, and we knew the rebel infantry was 
charging. And splendidly they did this work — the highest and 
severest test of the stuff that soldiers are made of. 

Hill's division, in line of battle, came first on the double- 
quick, their muskets at the '"right-shoulder-shift." Longstreet's 
came as a support, at the usual distance, with war cries and a 
savage insolence as yet untutored by defeat. They rushed in 
perfect order across the open field up to the muzzles of the guns, 
which tore lanes through them as they came. 

But they met men who were their equals in spirit, and their 
superiors in tenacity. There never was better fighting since 
Thermopylae than was done yesterday by our infantry and artil- 
lery. The rebels were over our defenses. They had cleared 
cannoneers and horses from one of the guns, and were whirling 
it around to use upon us. The bayonet drove them back. 

42 



But so hard pressed was this brave infantry that at one time, 
from the exhaustion of their ammunition, every battery upon the 
principal crest of attack was silent, except Cowan's. His service 
of grape and cannister was awful. It enabled our line, outnum- 
bered two to one, first to beat back Longstreet, and then to charge 
upon him and take a great number of his men prisoners. 

Strange sight ! So terrible was our musketry and artillery 
fire, that when Armistead's brigade was checked in its charge, 
and stood reeling, all of its men dropped their muskets and 
crawled on their hands and knees underneath the stream of 
shot till close to our troops, when they made signs of surrender- 
ing. They passed through our ranks hardly noticed and slowly 
went down the slope to the road in the rear. 

Before they got there the grand charge of Ewell, solemnly 
sworn to and carefully prepared, had failed. The rebels had re- 
treated to their lines, and opened anew the storm of shell and 
shot from their 120 guns. 

Those who remained at the riddled headquarters will never 
forget the crouching, and dodging, and running of the butternut 
captives when they got under this, their friend's fire. It was 
appalling to as good soldiers even as they were. 

What remains to say of the fight? It straggled surlily on the 
middle of the horseshoe on the west, grew big and angry on the 
heel at the southwest, lasted there until 8 o'clock in the evening, 
when the fighting Sixth Corps went joyously by as a reinforce- 
ment through the wood, bright with coffee pots on the fire. 
sedgwick's sixth army corps. 

I feel that the honor due to General Sedgwick for the repulse 
of the Confederate Army at Gettysburg would be incomplete 
without an account somewhat in detail of one of its batteries, 
commanded by an officer soon to become the Chief of Artillery 
of Sedgwick's Sixth Corps, Colonel Andrew Cowan. 

The First Xew York Battery was placed in position on the 
left of the Baltimore Turnpike, over the bridge over Rock Creek, 
about 6 p. m., July 2, and the men were kept at the guns all night. 

43 



A Confederate division had advanced and entered the Union rifle 
pits, at the extreme right of the line from which troops of the 
Twelfth Corps had been taken to reinforce the left, and the Sixth 
Corps Artillery was kept in readiness to prevent a movement 
by the enemy across the Baltimore Pike if it should be attempted 
during the night. The Confederates, however, were driven out 
by the Union troops next morning, and soon after daylight, July 
3, the First New York Battery was ordered to report to General 
Newton, commanding the First Corps near the base of Little 
Round Top. It was placed in position, at the extreme right of 
this corps when the cannonade was opened by the Confederate 
batteries. 

In that position, partly overlapping the left of the Second 
Corps, the battery fought until the order "Cease firing ; hold your 
fire for the infantry !" was shouted by an officer who galloped on 
toward the left without halting. A few moments later another 
officer, coming from the right, rode through the battery, shouting 
"Report to General Webb at the right with your battery!" Cap- 
tain Cowan hesitated a moment before deciding to obey an order 
coming from beyond the line of the First Corps ; but looking in 
the direction indicated he saw an officer standing upon the higher 
ground waving his hat to hasten the battery forward. The officer 
was General Alex S. Webb. It was also seen that a battery was 
withdrawing from its position on the left of a clump of trees 
where General Webb stood. That was Brown's Rhode Island 
Battery, the second battery to the right of the First New York. 
Brown's Battery was crippled, and had exhausted its ammunition. 
The withdrawal of that battery, before an assault from the Con- 
federate infantry, was, therefore, made necessary. 

The First New York Battery immediately galloped into the 
place vacated by Brown on the left of the clump of trees. The 
rebel battle flags could be plainly seen from this position, and 
skirmishing had begun. On the right of "the clump of trees" 
was Cushing's Regular Battery. The leading gun of Cowan's 
six was carried, in the furious gallop, to the right of the trees 
and crowded upon the left gun of Cushing's Battery. Lieutenant 
dishing was then wounded in the thigh, but not disabled. He 



44 



ordered the left guns of his battery to be pushed by hand to a low 
wall about twenty yards forward, where our infantry were 
crouching for shelter from the enemy's shells that were striking 
and exploding on all sides. Lieutenant Gushing was killed at the 
w T all, where the enemy seized two of his guns, which they held 
for a few moments. The Confederate line of battle advanced in 
the most splendid manner, exposed to a destructive artillery fire 
and to volleys of musketry when at close range. After crossing 
the Emmitsburg Road their line was somewhat broken and num- 
bers of them lay down behind large rocks and bushes about two 
hundred yards short of the Union lines. But the majority of the 
Confederates, gallantly led by their officers, rushed forward to the 
wall, which numbers of them crossed on both left and right of 
the trees. 

This low stone wall had been thrown down in places to let the 
guns through on the second day, and at these gaps, and in other 
places, rails had been placed for additional shelter. That was the 
only breastwork or fortification that protected Webb's infantry 
on the left of the trees. Cowan's guns on the left and Cushing's 
on the right had no defense of any kind. When the enemy had 
advanced about half the distance from the Emmitsburg Road and 
the Union position the troops that were posted in front of Cow- 
an's guns, by some misunderstanding of an order, rose up and 
moved to the right of the clump of trees, leaving the entire front 
of Cowan's battery exposed to the enemy, who taking advantage 
of the blunder, came rushing forward, shouting "Take the guns ! 
Take the guns !" While the guns were being rapidly loaded with 
double cannister. Lieutenant Wright was shot through the body 
and another shot passed through Captain Cowan's coat. A young 
Confederate officer led his men, shouting "Take the guns !" when 
they were discharged. The effect of the canister was so terrific 
that no further attempt was made to take the guns, and the young 
officer lay dead, with hundreds of others in front of the guns. 

Most of the Confederates who crossed the wall were soon 
killed or wounded. Hundreds of them threw down their arms 
and surrendered ; some attempted to retreat, many of whom were 

45 



killed while doing so. A Confederate battery galloped to the 
Emmitsburg Road to cover their retreat. Capt. Cowan's guns ex- 
ploded two of their ammunition chests in quick succession, where- 
upon the rebel battery was withdrawn. 

Cowan's First New York Battery of the Sixth Corps was not 
mentioned in the report of Webb's Brigade of the Second Corps, 
written by Captain Banes, A. A G. He mentioned Wheeler's 
13th New York Battery as Wheeler's First New York. The 
error was not exposed until 1886. General Webb then obtained 
permission to correct his report and gave Cowan's Battery credit 
for "maintaining a continuous fire from the beginning to the 
end of the assault." When the monument for the Batterv, bear- 
ing the inscription "Double Canister at Ten Yards," was dedi- 
cated July 3, 1887, General Webb telegraphed the following 
message : 

Sharon Springs, N. Y. 
July 3, 1887. 
Colonel Andrew Coivan: 

Congratulations for you and your gallant battery on your suc- 
cess of establishing forever your glorious record of July 3, 1863. 
To your effective fire we owe much for which we have expressed 
our gratitude in corrected records. 

Gkx. Alexander S. Webb. 

general sedgwick's death. 

The following is a copy of a letter from General M. T. Alc- 
Mahon to General James W. Latta, President of the Sedgwick 
Memorial Association : 

New York, June 29, 1887. 

My Dear General : — I send, as you request, a detailed narra- 
tion of the circumstances attending the death of Major-General 
John Sedgwick on the battlefield near Spottsylvania on the 9th 
of May, 1864. 

On the day previous the Sixth Army Corps had made a rapid 
march under order to move to the support of Major-General 
Warren's headquarters, and, with his staff, lay down on the grass 
lines, near Spottsylvania Court House. We arrived there about 

46 





LIEUT. ANDREW COWAN, 

COMMANDING 6TII CORPS BATTERY 

AT HIGH WATER MARK, 1863. 



COLONEL ANDREW COWAN, 

FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE BATTLE OF 

GETTYSBURG, I913. 



five o'clock in the evening, and passed the rest of the day in 
getting into position on the left of the Fifth Corps. After night- 
fall General Sedgwick rode back into an open field near General 
Warren's headquarters, and, with his staff, lay down on the grass 
and slept until daylight. Shortly after daylight, without break- 
fast, he moved out upon his line of battle. We had no tents nor 
breakfast during that night or morning. The general made some 
necessary changes, and gave a few unimportant orders, and sat 
down with me upon a hard-tack box, with his back resting against 
one of the smaller trees, a little in the rear of where the monu- 
ment now stands. The men, one hundred feet in front, were 
just finishing a line of rifle pits, which ran to the right of a sec- 
tion of artillery, which occupied a somewhat obtuse angle in our 
lines. The First New Jersey Brigade was in advance of this line 
of rifle pit's, protecting the work while in progress against any 
attack from the other side. 

After the brigade had been withdrawn, by direction of the 
General, through a little opening left in the rifle pits for this pur- 
pose to the left of the pieces of artillery, the General, who had 
watched the operation, resumed his seat on the hard-tack box. I 
sat down beside him, and we were engaged in conversation. He 
seemed a little less cheerful than usual, and commenced talking 
about members of his staff in very complimentary terms. He was 
an inveterate tease, and I at once suspected that he had some 
joke on the staff which he was leading up to ; and when he said, 
"I think I have got the best staff in the Army of the Potomac," 
I, believing that this was part of the joke which he had in 
reserve, replied, with pretended seriousness, "General, I don't 
know about that, but I do know that you have the best chief of 
staff in the army." He laughed, and said in a manner so kindly 
as to remove all doubt as to his earnestness, "No, no, I am 
serious." Then he spoke in the most kindly and complimentary 
way of Major T. W. Hyde, of the Seventh Maine, who was Pro- 
vost Marshall of the Corps, and of Colonel J. Ford Kent, U. S. A., 
Inspector-General, as gallant young soldiers, and was about to 
mention others in the same strain when he was interrupted by 
observing that the troops, who had during this time been filing 

47 



from the left into the rifle pits, had come to a halt, and were 
lying down, while the left of the line partly overlapped the 
position of the section of artillery. He stopped abruptly and 
said, "That is wrong; those troops must be moved further to the 
right; I don't wish them to overlap that battery." I started out 
to execute the order, and he arose at the same moment, and we 
sauntered out slowly, and stood within three or four feet of the 
trail of the right gun. 

Here let me say, that about an hour before I had remarked to 
the General, pointing to the two pieces in a half jesting manner, 
which he well understood, "General, do you see that section of 
artillery? Well, you are not to go near it today." He answered 
good-naturedly, "McMahon, I would like to know who commands 
this corps, you or I?" I said, playfully, "Well, General, some- 
times I am in doubt myself," but added, "seriously, General, I 
beg of you not to go to that angle ; every officer who has shown 
himself there has been hit, both yesterday and today." He 
answered, quietly, "Well, I don't know that there is any reason 
for in) going there." When, afterwards, we walked out to the 
position indicated, this conversation had entirely escaped the 
memory of both. 

I gave the necessary order to move the troops to the right, 
and as they rose to execute the movement, the enemy opened a 
sprinkling fire, partly from sharp-shooters. As the bullets 
whistled by, some of the men dodged. The General said, laugh- 
ingly. "What! what! men, dodging this way for single bullets! 
What will you do when they open fire along the whole line ? I am 
ashamed of you. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." 
A few seconds after, a man who had been separated from his 
regiment passed directly in front of the General, and at the same 
moment a sharp-shooter's bullet passed with a long, shrill whistle 
very close, and the soldier, who was then just in front of the 
General, dodged to the ground. The General touched him gently 
with his foot, and said, "Why, my man, I am ashamed of you, 
dodging that way," and repeated the remark, "they couldn't hit 
an elephant at this distance." The man got up and saluted, and 
said, good-naturedly, "General, I dodged a shell once, and if I 

48 



hadn't dodged, it would have taken my head clean off. I believe 
in dodging." 

The General and some of the men in the rifle pits who had 
heard the remark laughed, and the General replied, "All right, 
my man ; go to your place." 

Another of the same kind of bullets passed while I was stand- 
ing talking to the General in a low voice about something which 
I have never since been able to recall. Then a third time the 
same shrill whistle closing with a dull heavy stroke interrupted 
me, and I remember distinctly that I commenced to say, "Gen- 
eral, they are firing explosive bullets," when his face turned 
slowly to me and the blood spurting from his left cheek under the 
eye in a steady stream, brought to me the first knowledge of our 
great disaster. He fell in my direction, and I was so close to 
him that my effort to support him failed, and I went to the ground 
with him. 

Colonel Charles H. Tompkins, Chief of the Artillery, was 
standing within a few feet of our right and a little to the rear. 
He heard my exclamation as the General fell, and, turning, 
shouted to his brigade surgeon, Dr. Ohlenschlager. Major 
Charles A. Whittier, Major T. W. Hyde, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kent, who had been grouped nearby, surrounded the General as 
he lay, but never a word did he utter. The same smile remained 
upon his lips that he wore in the last moment of his mortal life. 
The doctor was handed a canteen taken from one of the men. 
He poured water over the General's face. The blood still spurted 
upwards in a little fountain, and fell back in his hair, which was 
already saturated with it. The men in the long line of rifle 
pits, retaining their places from force of discipline, were all 
kneeling with heads raised and faces turned towards the scene, 
for it had already passed along the line with that mysterious 
rapidity with which great sorrows are communicated, that the 
greatest affliction with which it could be visited, greater even than 
a defeat in battle, for this the Army of the Patomic could repair 
at any time, had befallen the Sixth Corps and the country. 

I was recalled to a sense of duty by General Ricketts, next in 
command, who had arrived on the spot, and informed me, as 

49 



Chief of Staff, that he declined to assume command of the corps, 
inasmuch as he knew that it was General Sedgwick's desire, if 
anything should happen to him, that General Horatio G. Wright 
of the third division should succeed him. General Ricketts re- 
quested, therefore, that I communicate at once with General 
Meade, in order that the necessary order should be issued. 

T mounted my horse and rode almost blindly in the direction 
of General Meade's headquarters. I arrived by mistake at Gen- 
eral Grant's. The news had not yet reached them, and I com- 
municated it to General Rawlins and other staff officers as they 
stood around. 

I rode on to General Meade's headquarters and found that he 
had ridden to the front. I will not soon forget the scene as I 
entered General Seth Williams' tent. There were present there 
General Williams, General H. J. Hunt, Colonel E. R. Piatt, and 
I believe General Rufus Ingalls, and one or two others. As I 
entered with the blood still showing plainly, General Williams 
said one word, "Sedgwick." I could not answer, nor was it neces- 
sary, for each one in the tent burst into tears and wept like 
children at a father's death-bed. I returned at once to the scene 
of sorrow, and met General Meade on the way. He had already 
heard the sad intelligence, and had issued the order placing Gen- 
eral Wright in command. Further on I met the ambulance bring- 
ing the dead General's body, followed by his sorrowing staff. 
The body was taken back to General Meade's headquarters, and 
not into any house. A bower was built for it of evergreens, 
where, upon a rustic bier, it lay until nightfall. All day long 
officers and soldiers, the old and the young, and well and the 
wounded, came to the dead soldier's side and left it with moist 
eyelids. 

General Meade had at first directed that I should accompany 
the body to its last home. Subsequently, at the request of Gen- 
eral Wright, he changed the order, but directed me to detail such 
of the staff as I thought proper to accompany the remains. I 
named the senior aide. Major Charles A. Whittier, and the other 
two personal aides. Captain Beaumont, U. S. A., and Captain 
Halstead, A. D. C. These gentlemen took the body to Wash- 

50 




MONUMENT AT GENERAL SEDGWICK'S GRAVE. 



ington, where it was embalmed, and afterwards to its last home 
in Cornwall Hollow, Connecticut. 

I have given you, with perfect recollection of all the facts 
stated, the circumstances of General Sedgwick's death some- 
what in detail, because some unimportant errors were made in 
the statements which accompanied the unveiling of the monu- 
ment at Spottsylvania. No conversation other than what I have 
detailed took place immediately preceding the General's fall. He 
had not breakfasted with anyone that morning in his tent, because 
he had neither tent nor breakfast. He had been invited during 
the previous night to share the hospitality of General Warren's 
headquarters, but declined, preferring to sleep on the ground. 

Very sincerely yours, 

M. T. McMahon. 

THE FUXERAL. 

The remains of General Sedgwick reached Cornwall on Fri- 
day in charge of three of his staff officers. Major Whittier, Cap- 
tain Beaumont and Captain Halstead. The body was taken from 
the train at West Cornwall, and, preceded by a mounted escort 
of citizens of Cornwall, was taken to Cornwall Hollow and de- 
livered over to the family. The funeral services were held 
Sunday, May 15, 1864, from his late residence. Theodore Sedg- 
wick Gold gives the following account of the funeral : 

There was a simplicity and solemnity throughout the whole 
which rendered the scene of the most impressive character. Not 
less than two thousand persons were present, including repre- 
sentatives from every town in the county, as well as some of 
the highest dignitaries of the state, and also a delegation from 
New York who were formerly inhabitants of Connecticut. Gov- 
ernor Buckingham tendered to the family a military funeral, but 
they declined the honor as not in keeping with the simplicity of 
General Sedgwick's character, and his dislike of all ostentation. 
There was, therefore, an entire absence of all military display, 
the simple service and vast assemblage testifying more eloquently 
to the great public loss than any display of drooping plumes or 
muffled drums. 

5i 



The coffin upon which lay his sword, was draped with the dear 
old flag of his country, and was covered with holly leaves and 
flowers, conspicuous among which was a wreath from Airs. Presi- 
dent Lincoln, and another from Airs. Senator Dixon, of his own 
state. The deceased was clad in full uniform, and his features 
presented an almost life-like appearance, as he lav in his last 
sleep. A slight discoloration just beneath the left eye, where 
the winged messenger of death had entered, told the sad story 
that the noble life was stilled forever. 

The services consisted of a prayer, after which the Rev. 
Charles Wetherby, pastor of the village church, delivered a dis- 
course, followed by Prof. William P.. Clarke of Yale College, 
who was a former pastor and a friend of General Sedgwick. 
After a hymn was sung, an opportunity was given to the great 
multitude present to take a last look at the fallen hero, and for 
more than an hour they passed by with bowed heads and weeping 
eyes. As the remains were brought from the house by the pall 
bearers, who were his old friends and neighbors, and placed upon 
the hearse, the sun which had been obscured all day by clouds, 
shone out, lighting up the valley which he loved so well, and was 
an omen of the greater light into which he had entered. 

The burial place where he had often expressed the wish to 
rest, with his kindred, was about half a mile from the house. As 
the colh'n was being lowered to its last resting place, a distinct 
peal of thunder like the roll of distant artillery reverberated 
along the hills a most solemn requiem to the buried soldier. The 
Rev. Mr. Wetherby then raising his right hand pronounced the 
benediction, "And now, oh thou God of battles, be with this nation 
in its hour of trial, and may grace, mercy and peace abide with us 
forever 

Thus ended the simple funeral services of one who was 
worthy the honors of the nation. 



52 



Connecticut'* Cesttmomal. 

Upon the receipt of the news of the death of the General 
the Legislature of Connecticut being then in session passed the 
following resolution : 

State of Connecticut, 

General Assembly, 

May Session, A. D. 1864. 

Resolved, that in the death of Major General John Sedg- 
wick, who fell gloriously in the hour of victory, May 9, 1864, 
Connecticut is again called to mourn the loss of one of her 
noblest sons, and one of the most gallant and accomplished 
leaders of the national army. Wise in council, of large experi- 
ence, with rare talent to command, prompt and determined in 
action, the soul of valor on the battlefield, honored by his superiors 
and associates, and beloved by all who served under him, his loss, 
in a crisis like the present, cannot but be severely felt, while we 
bow in resignation to the blow which has deprived the country of 
a tower of strength. 

Resolved, that this Assembly tender to the relatives and per- 
sonal friends of the late General Sedgwick deep sympathy in 
their bereavement, and request that an opportunity may be 
afforded of paying due honors to his remains, by receiving them 
at the capitol., and making suitable arrangements for the funeral 
ceremonies. 

Resolved, that a committee of one senator and eight members 
of the House of Representatives be appointed to make the 
requisite arrangements for carrying the preceding resolution into 
effect, and to attend the funeral. 

Resolved, that a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by 
the Secretary of State to the friends of the deceased. 



53 



The grave of this heroic soldier is marked by a plain granite 
monument, on which is inscribed 



>V 



tf 



*<fr 



BORN IX 

Cornwall Hollow, 

Sept. 13, 1813. 

killed near 

Spottsylvania C. H., Va 

May 9, 1864. 



MEMORIAL SERVICES. 

This marble shaft is not an unmeaning sign of the respect 
the citizens have held for their distinguished hero. Each year 
on Memorial Day his lowly mound is strewn with flowers, and 
frequently the surviving members of his old Sixth Corps send a 
beautiful wreath to be placed thereon. The G. A. R. of the 
Department of Connecticut sends some one of its officers to join 
with the school children and citizens in the simple exercises on 
these occasions. 

In 1892 a general Memorial service was held, which was 
participated in by the neighboring Grand Army Posts, many state 
officials, several former staff officers of the Sixth Corps and many 
of its veterans, as well as probably more than two thousand 
civilians. Very interesting exercises were held. The oration 
was given by General Martin T. McMahon of General Sedgwick's 
staff. Near him on the platform on which the speaker stood was 
an original Division Flag which was only a few feet from General 
Sedgwick when he was struck by the fatal bullet. 

Hon. Theodore Sedgwick Gold presided, and read the follow- 
ing poetical tribute, written for the occasion by Hon. Miles T. 
Granger, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, who was 
one of the General's boyhood companions. 

54 




GENERAL SEDGWICK S MONUMENT AT WEST POINT. 



On Fame's eternal camping-ground 

The patriot hero sleeps, 
And Honor o'er him, glory-crowned, 

A ceaseless vigil keeps. 

His name, enshrined in hearts of all, 

Shall live while time remains, 
Till shade and sunlight cease to fall 

On Cornwall's hills and plains. 

Unlike the fading flowers we place 

Above his tomb today, 
Affection's roses, flowers of grace, 

For him shall bloom for aye. 

The top and crown of gems that span 

His diadem of fame 
Is this : he lived an honest man ; 

And honored be his name. 

The bugle call, the rattling drum, 

Disturb his sleep no more ; 
But peaceful near his boyhood's home, 

He'll rest till time is o'er. 

The honors to the memory of General Sedgwick did not cease 
at this time, nor did they consist merely of words. On Memorial 
Day, 1900, a far larger concourse of people gathered in that 
secluded valley to assist in dedicating another and more imposing 
monument, erected on a little triangular park just outside the 
cemetery gates. It will be seen by the picture that it is of a 
very elaborate and unique design. It was financed principally by 
Mr. Carl Stoeckel of Norfolk, who has also edited and printed 
for private distribution the letters of the General, and a memorial 
sketch of his life. 

On the occasion of the dedication of this "Battell Monument" 
the usual Memorial exercises were held, Hon. Mr. Gold again 
presiding, Governor George E. Lounsbury making the principal 
address, with Hon. E. J. Hill, M. C, and others paying their 
tributes in memory and honor of the silent sleeper, whom 
"No sound can awaken to glory again." 



55 



AT WEST POINT. 

Soon after his death, at Spottsylvania, May 9, 1864, the officers 
of the army and graduates of West Point raised funds and 
erected a beautiful life-size bronze statue at West Point. It was 
designed by Launt Thompson. This was dedicated October 29, 
1868, with very imposing military ceremonies, the eloquent George 
William Curtis delivering the oration, from which I wish to quote 
his description of the march of the Sixth Corps to Gettysburg: 

"As the Sixth Corps marched from battle to battle, from the 
heights of Fredericksburg toward the hills of Gettysburg, the 
indomitable will of the General moved the men so ardently that 
they called themselves 'Sedgwick's Cavalry,' and declared they 
were kept upon the gallop. They said he only halted when his 
horse gave out, and when he stopped every day to watch from the 
roadside the passing columns, the men shouted good-naturedly 
from the ranks, 'Get another horse and come on; we'll wait for 
you, Uncle John ; we're in no hurry. Uncle John ;' and if the Gen- 
eral smiled, the shout became a laugh, which broke along the 
ranks and echoed from companies and rippled along regiments 
until whole divisions rang with the loud response of merriment 
to 'Uncle John's' kind smile. But it was a weary march to Penn- 
sylvania in the frowning early summer of 1863, and the evening 
of the first day's battle of Gettysburg brought a dispatch from 
General Meade which found General Sedgwick just gone into 
camp after a hard day's toil. But he saw what must be done, 
and at nine o'clock at night his columns began the march. 

"All through the hot July night, after a weary day, and at a 
quick step, they pushed manfully on, — brave boys who helped to 
save a nation. Sedgwick was never more aroused. His un- 
conquerable will nerved and moved the long ranks of his army as 
the force of the ocean urges the waves. If his generals suggested 
that there must be some rest or the corps would straggle, he 
replied shortly: 'Have you seen Meade's order?' When the 
corps made a brief halt for breakfast he ate nothing, but passed 
constantly among the troops, then gave the order to advance ; and 
when one of his officers was three minutes late in moving, the 

56 




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-J I :?A- *.ai».uj:»tz»-» >.■"' '•in wan;/ " : 
"'--.• &. jistuurr... A«a,&a.tt»£ - 

- *s^ '«■»«« Blow. .HtSta #«*»:%*' 

' 3 !."*•- .->"-<•* *J.i&L&A5M&.W 




SEDGWICK MONUMENT AT SI'OTTSYIAAXIA. 



General exclaimed, 'Tell him if he is so tardy again I will — ' 
but no threat reached the trusty lieutenant, and none was meant ; 
but the distant thunder of the great battle even then announced 
the struggle, and the untiring leader, his soldierly soul aflame, 
knew that his absence might lose the day. This Ironside fervor 
again inspired the men, and at two o'clock, footsore, staggering, 
weary, having marched thirty-six miles since nine o'clock the night 
before and one hundred and thirty-six in the five days, the col- 
umns of the Sixth Corps came upon the memorable field. They 
were exhausted and held in reserve ; but so sharp and furious was 
the struggle that their aid was constantly demanded, and Sedg- 
wick sent brigade after brigade of those indomitable soldiers, 
who stayed the rebel onsets, and so had their glorious part in the 
crowning field of Gettysburg that drove armed rebellion from the 
loyal states and gave the true heart of patriotism an exulting 
faith in final victory." 

AT SPOTTSYIvVANIA. 

A few years later the officers and members of the Sixth Army 
Corps, discovering that nothing marked the spot where the Gen- 
eral was killed at Spottsylvania, determined to erect a monument 
there, and by very small individual contributions raised a suffi- 
cient sum to purchase a small tract of the Alsop farm and erect 
thereon a granite marker or monument. This was dedicated on 
the anniversary of his death, May 9, 1887. The exercises were 
attended by a large number of the surviving comrades of the 
Sixth Corps, and the oration was delivered by General Latta. 

AT GETTYSBURG. 

In the erection of this monument his native state adds another 
of these stone laurels to the memory of her beloved and illustrious 
general, whose memory will remain undimmed, long after this 
bronze and granite shall have moldered into dust. 

We have come as representative citizens of that common- 
wealth to express the honor which it gladly yet mournfully gives 
to him, and to show the gratitude which, as state and nation, we 
owe him and his brave men who on this battlefield, half a century 
ago, stemmed the tide of battle when disaster and defeat stared 
the nation's defenders in the face. 

57 



We come as neighbors, friends and citizens who yearly place 
upon his grave, beneath the whispering pines, the loving flowers 
of the early spring, as a tribute of our affection and love. 

We come as veterans who followed the Greek Cross from the 
Peninsula to Appomattox, to show our love for our valiant com- 
mander. Here, fifty years ago, on this very ground he received 
his major-general's commission. Here, fifty years ago, President 
Lincoln said : 

"It is not what we say here, but what they did here, that history 
will remember." Here on this field you will find that Greek cross 
at all strategic points ; at the Bloody Angle its guns are found ; 
on Little Round Top that symbol is carved on many monuments ; 
and all along the line of battle where danger and death came thick 
and fast, there will you find the reinforcements of the Sixth 
Corps were stationed. 

So we mingle with the earth, stained by the blood of our com- 
rades, our tears of sorrow in their memory, but feel proud of our 
state that it too has joined with us in this appreciation of the one 
great soldier who led us on, without defeat, from victory to vic- 
tory, "Uncle John" — General Sedgwick. 



"We soldiers loved him, we who knew 
His generous trust ; his heart so brave, 
His hand so firm, his faith so true, 
Our love is a love beyond the grave. 

Mourn, nation, mourn, and yet rejoice 
That such as he was son of thine — 

His cannon's roar w r as freedom's voice, 
And he made victory divine. 



What matter where to dust so great 
A sepulchre for time is lent, 

Tn freedom's soil he lies in state, 
A nation is his monument." 



58 




Copyrighted by Harris & Ewin.sr Wash., D.C. 
H. K. BUSH-BROWN, SCULPTOR. 



ADDRESS BY SCULPTOR BUSH-BROWN 



The president then introduced H. K. Bush-Brown of Wash- 
ington, D. C, the designer of this monument, and who also 
erected upon this battlefield the Equestrian Statue of Gen. Meade 
and also one of Gen. Reynolds, and more recently the beautiful 
bust and monument of Lincoln in the National Cemetery, who 
spoke as follows : 

Your Excellency Ex-Governor Weeks, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Chair- 
man, Soldiers and Gentlemen: 

It is not to be supposed that a member of the silent profession 
could burden you for long with oratory. 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and the Commission, for giving 
me this opportunity to make the statue of General Sedgwick. I 
have learned to know him as others did who served with him. 

I have, therefore, endeavored to present him as he appeared 
to his companions after his long forced march. Here is Sedg- 
wick and behind him the Sixth Corps, waiting for the General's 
orders, quiet and undisturbed by the battle around him, waiting 
for orders, an intense expression of readiness in the man and in 
his horse. 

There is an ancient proverb to the effect that mountain people 
are always free: montain semper liberi. On the same soil of 
Litchfield where General Sedgwick was born came that earlier 
hero in the cause of liberty, John Brown, who by reason of his 
following his ideal, contrary to law, met his death on the gallows, 
and our John Sedgwick followed his ideals to the field of battle 
and died there in the cause of liberty. Both from the hills of 
Litchfield, and because their souls are marching on we are assem- 
bled here today, for, in the words of the poet, who is the happy 
warrior, who is he that all the world would wish to be — John 
Sedgwick. 

59 



ADDRESS BY WILLIAM J. WRAY 



In introducing Comrade William J. Wray to respond for the 
Sixth Army Corps, General Pine spoke as follows : 

The State of Connecticut contributed one regiment to the 
Sixth Corps, the Second Heavy Artillery, eighteen hundred 
officers and men. The regiment joined the corps at Spottsylvania, 
Va., and followed its fortunes from that time until the close of 
the war. 

And Connecticut gave commanders to the Sixth Corps. 
Sedgwick and Wright were both sons of Connecticut, and we also 
claim Franklin as a citizen of Connecticut. Those of us who 
followed the Greek cross during the dark days of our country's 
history have always had the feeling that we served in the best 
corps of the grandest army that ever battled in the cause of human 
freedom. 

William J. Wray, a member of the 23d P. V., Sixth Army 
Corps, spoke for the Sixth Army Corps as follows . 

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Sedgwick Monument Commission 
of Connecticut, Citizens and Ladies of Connecticut: 

As an humble survivor of the Sixth Corps, I assure you of the 
heartfelt thanks of all the wearers of the Greek cross, their rela- 
tives and friends, for your work of love in erecting and dedicating 
this splendid masterpiece of art, memorizing Connecticut's illus- 
trious son and soldier, Major-General John Sedgwick, who com- 
manded the Sixth Corps on this field of Gettysburg. 

I regret very much the absence of Colonel Andrew Cowan, 
a typical survivor of the corps, whose battery, "Cowan's," did 
so much execution at the High Water Mark, and who commanded 
all the artillery of the corps at the windup. He no doubt would 

60 



have ably told you of the distinguished services of the General, as 
well as the love and affection of the officers and men who had the 
honor to have served under his command, much better than I who 
carried a musket, under Uncle John, from the time he took com- 
mand of the Sixth Corps until he was killed, May 9, 1864, at 
Spottsylvania. 

Sedgwick's services to his country were most distinguished. 
He not only held the esteem and affection of his men, but had the 
confidence at all times of the general commanding the Army of 
the Potomac. 

It is related by a volunteer officer on Grant's staff that at the 
Wilderness, May 6, 1864, when a courier came in with the infor- 
mation that the right had been turned, with Generals Seymour 
and Shaler captured and the Confederate's yells and fire was 
rapidly approaching headquarters, that it appeared Grant seemed 
to pay no attention to the disastrous incident, but in another half 
hour the second courier arrived with the information that the 
lines had been rectified, with the capture of a few hundred prison- 
ers and some battleflags. 

When lying at City Point that winter, and Grant was in a 
talkative mood, he explained that all this day Hancock kept Lee 
busy in desperate battle on the left, so that Lee could not con- 
concentrate any considerable reinforcements on his, Grant's right. 
Sedgwick was then in command with a fighting corps, and he 
awaited developments. This was one of the times that the greatest 
general of the Civil War took a chance and won out. 

The Sixth Corps, to get to this battlefield, being on the right, 
had marched all day of July 1st and were going into bivouac 
near Manchester about 8 p. m., when a courier arrived with 
information from General Meade that he had met the Army of 
Northern Virginia, the fight was on, and he wanted the Sixth 
Corps. It was immediately put in motion for Gettysburg, thirty- 
six miles away, reaching this position well closed up about 3 p. m. 
The corps was held in reserve well up to the front lines, 
Wheaton's brigade, under Colonel Nevin, going in on their front, 
while Shaler's brigade (the general, by the way, being a Con- 
Co 1 



necticut man), was sent over to Culp's Hill to help the Twelfth 
Corps push Johnson out of the works — these with the batteries 
were about all that became engaged. 

Historians tell us if Jeb Stuart had passed our cavalry on the 
right and got onto the Baltimore pike, and had Pickett's fourteen 
thousand brave Confederates broke the front line at the left cen- 
tre, the Army of the Potomac would have fallen back to a new 
position. Well, just look at the situation about this time. 

Bucky Neils' fighting brigade of the Sixth Corps was away 
off at Wolf's Hill, guarding the right flank, and the grand old 
Vermont brigade, under dear old Libby Grant, with Dave Rus- 
sell's splendid brigade, were stretched along a wagon road leading 
from the rear of Round Top, guarding the ammunition train 
and the left flank. 

With the skill of Sedgwick and the fighting spirit of the old 
Sixth Corps, what would have become of Jeb? But Stuart's ride 
was stopped by that gallant Pennsylvanian, General David Mc- 
Murtrie Gregg, who sent Jeb back to Lee's lines, where he be- 
longed, while that other gallant son of Pennsylvania, Hancock, 
magnificently repulsed that brave charge along his front. So the 
old Sixth Corps did not have a chance to get deep into- the battle. 

The Sixth Corps were congenial in the field. As has been stated 
by one of your orators today, the Sixth Corps commanders, 
Franklin, Sedgwick and Wright, were all Connecticut men. and 
as the men and women we have met on this occasion from the 
Nutmeg State are as cordial, perhaps that old state had some- 
thing to do with the brotherly feeling with the men of the corps 
and this feeling has been kept up ever since. When we meet one 
of the boys wearing the Greek cross, it does not matter if we 
knew him for a day or one hundred years, we become friends 
at once. 

( )n July first the boys will all be here, attending the celebration 
of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle. They will all assemble 
around this magnificent tribute of Connecticut to pay their re- 
spects to "Dear Uncle John." 



62 



PROF. JOHN A. HIMES' ADDRESS 



The President then introduced Prof. John A. Himes of the 
Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, and Secretary of the Sixth 
Corps Monument Committee, who spoke as follows : 

Mr. Chairman, Veterans, Citizens of Connecticut, Ladies and 
Gentlemen: 

This courteous call comes to me because of my relations to the 
Sixth Corps Society, apart from which I should feel very much 
out of place on this platform. When a bill was introduced in 
the Legislature of Connecticut in the winter of 1907, providing 
for a monument to Major-General John Sedgwick on this battle- 
field, a number of letters appeared in Hartford papers from citi- 
zens of other states — mostly officers of the General's old command 
— advising, approving and urging forward the patriotic move- 
ment. There was also much unpublished correspondence showing 
an interest wide-spread and intense, and proving that General 
Sedgwick, though an honored son of Connecticut, belonged to the 
whole nation. This feeling manifested itself profoundly at a 
meeting of the Society of the Army of the Potomac in Washing- 
ton, May, 1907, when on motion of Colonel Andrew Cowan, in 
the Sixth Corps Society, a committee of five was appointed, with 
authority to add to its number for the purpose of encouraging 
and aiding the hopeful movement in General Sedgwick's native 
state. There was a hearty and almost unanimous acceptance of 
places on the committee in response to the invitations of the Sec- 
retary, and eighteen distinguished members of the old Sixth 
Corps were eventually enrolled, a large proportion of whom were 
purposely from Connecticut. The work of the committee, in the 
partial disablement of its Chairman, General Alexander Shaler, 

63 



was ably and energetically directed and financed by Colonel 
Cowan. It aimed to enlist the interest and activity of influential 
men and organizations who would appear before the Legislative 
Committee as champions of the Sedgwick memorial. It is to the 
credit of all concerned that this busy outside interest was not 
resented as unwarranted meddling, but was welcomed as evidence 
of the worthiness of the cause. In July, 1908, at Utica, the 
endorsement of the Society of the Army of the Potomac was 
obtained and after the fall elections the Legislature of 1909 was 
memorialized. On June 29, 1909, the members of the committee 
and the survivors of the old Sixth Corps were gladdened by the 
tidings that the bill providing for the monument had been signed 
by Governor Frank B. Weeks. The able and energetic Com- 
mission appointed by His Excellency, three of them from the 
Sixth Corps Committee, promptly assumed the task and have 
carried it on to splendid completion. The last duty of the Sixth 
Corps Committee has been to notify and urge the attendance of 
General Sedgwick's old soldiers at the exercises of dedication. 

Any special commendation of the services of this committee 
would be an anti-climax ; their efforts, I am sure, were a glad 
tribute of affection fully rewarded in the performance ; those for 
which they now and evermore deserve our gratitude were per- 
formed in company with thousands of their fellow soldiers when 
they strained upon the long and urgent march by night and 
burning day to this field, took part in the fierce combat at Culp's 
Hill, the Clump of Trees and Round Top, and afterward for ten 
months more followed their trusted leader to Spottsylvania ; then 
under another commander cleared the Shenandoah Valley of the 
elusive Confederates, and finally had a share in the memorable 
and desperate race from Richmond to Appomattox. For these 
deeds they deserve our honor and veneration. 



64 



TRANSFER OF MONUMENT 



In delivering the monument to the State of Connecticut, on 
behalf of the Commission, General Pine spoke as follows : 

The work of the Sedgwick Mounment Commission of Con- 
neticut is ended. It has been a labor of love. Our aim has been 
to produce here a work acceptable to our state, a fitting memorial 
to her illustrious son, and pleasing to the survivors of the Sixth 
Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac who may be privileged 
to gaze upon it. 

If we have accomplished this in reasonable measure we are 
amply repaid for the time and labor given to the undertaking. 
And now, Ex-Governor Weeks, to you as the representative of 
the State of Connecticut upon this occasion, it becomes my pleas- 
ant duty on behalf of the Commission, to deliver this monument, 
trusting it may long remain here, withstanding the elements, 
giving inspiration to coming generations, instilling into their 
minds a love of liberty and patriotic devotion to their country that 
shall tend, in a measure, to make them like their fathers before 
them — worthy citizens of a free republic. 



65 



ADDRESS BY EX-GOVERNOR WEEKS 



Hon. Frank B. Weeks, Ex-Governor of Connecticut, whom 
Governor Simeon E. Baldwin, being unable to be present, re- 
quested to represent the State of Connecticut, then spoke as 
follows : 

Mr. Chairman, Messrs. Commissioners, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

I stand here commissioned by His Excellency, the Governor, 
to represent the State of Connecticut on this auspicious occasion. 
I am indeed sorry, as I am sure you all are, that Governor Bald- 
win was unable to be in Gettysburg today to accept in behalf of 
the state and to forthwith place in the keeping of our national 
government this beautiful monument that signifies so much not 
only to the people of Connecticut, but to all people who have the 
welfare of this great nation at heart. 

How eminently fitting that these dedicatory exercises should 
occur at this season of the year, when our thinking and patriotic 
people are recalling those history-making days of fifty years ago, 
and particularly that great battle, perhaps the greatest in all his- 
tory, that was fought upon the very soil on which we are now 
standing and upon which this noble monument rests. It was a 
pleasure for me to approve on June 29, 1909, the bill that was 
passed by the General Assembly appropriating $25,000 for, and 
authorizing the Governor to appoint a Commission to erect a 
monument on this hallowed ground in loving memory of Major- 
General John Sedgwick, who, commanding the gallant Sixth 
Corps, arrived near this spot at 2 o'clock p. m. July 2, 1863, after 
a weary march from Manchester, some thirty miles distant. The 
arrival of this body of 15,000 seasoned troops was hailed with joy 
and with a feeling of great relief by the general commanding the 

66 




EX-r.OVERXOR FRANK B. WEEKS. 



United States forces. It is not my purpose to enter into the 
details of the battle of Gettysburg ; that ground has already been 
covered by lips more eloquent than my own. My purpose is 
rather to proclaim Connecticut's gratitude and affection towards 
one of her noble and heroic sons. It is in his honor we are 
gathered today. It is to his memory we dedicate this beautiful, 
speaking piece of bronze and granite. It was a splendid thought 
that led to the erection of this monument, to one that did all in 
his power to preserve this great nation. But not alone does it 
honor General Sedgwick, but it is a reminder to generations of 
the present and the future of deeds that were done in patriotic 
devotion. Messrs. Commissioners, in the name of the State of 
Connecticut, I accept this monument, and in her name I heartily 
congratulate you upon your achievement. You have been faith- 
ful and intelligent and here in this splendid work of art we be- 
hold the result of vour labors. 



Turning to the Assistant Secretary of War, representing the 
War Department, Ex-Governor Weeks said : 



Mr. Secretary, representing as you do the government of the 
United States and representing as I do the State of Connecticut, 
I now have the honor of turning over to the federal government, 
for care and preservation, this beautiful monument that a grate- 
ful state has erected and just now dedicated to the memory of a 
loving and devoted son, who participated in the terrible battle that 
was fought half a century ago upon the soil that now surrounds 
us, and who a few months later, on another battlefield, laid down 
his life defending our country's flag. We . f eel confident the 
United States Government will guard and cherish this monument 
and will join with Connecticut in keeping warm and bright the 
memory of Major-General John Sedgwick. 



67 



ACCEPTANCE 



Hon. Henry Breckinridge, Assistant Secretary of War, re- 
sponded with the following address of acceptance : 

Your Excellency: 

It is good for a people to make tangible expression of their 
appreciation of the sacrifices of heroes in behalf of the public 
weal. It is fitting to erect lasting monuments to the memory of 
noble patriots for an eternal reminder to coming generations of 
what qualities are required if a nation is to endure. 

Righteousness, not gold, exalteth a nation. Not the pomp and 
pride and outward circumstance of power, but the steel and truth 
of the individual character bring safety in storm and stress. Not 
the gleam and glitter of splendid equipage, or the sparkle of rare 
jewels worn to adorn a beautiful woman spell the true well-being 
of the country; but in the honesty, uprightness, self-respect and 
well-being of the common man, and in the purity, fidelity, and 
good condition of the common woman is treasured the true foun- 
dation of the nation's greatness. The body is more than raiment ; 
the mind is more than the body, and the spirit is more than all. 
We love John Sedgwick for the spirit that was in him and we 
glory the more in his greatness because he was peculiarly endowed 
with virtues upon which depend the lasting greatness of the Re- 
public. 

First, he was submissive to the discipline of religion and in 
time of spiritual tribulation was wont to resort for comfort and 
strength to the infinite resources of the living God. In writing to 
his father and mother after the death of his sister Olive he said: 
"How little we know what God's purposes are concerning us ; you 
and mother, I know, are supported and comforted by the con- 

68 




Copyrighted by Clendinst, Wash.. D.C. 
HOX. HENRY BRECKINRIDGE, ASST. SECRETARY OF WAR. 



solation of knowing that you have entrusted your all into His 
hands." And later in the same letter — "Poor Emily, how desolate 
she must feel, and Mr. Fuller, too ; but they both have faith and 
confidence in the love of the Saviour." These words were writ- 
ten in John Sedgwick's forty-third year and exhibit the tested 
faith of a full developed manhood. "As a man thinketh in his 
heart, so is he." For the best interpretation of a man's life and 
practice seek out and learn the faith that is in him. 

Coupled with his religious faith was a deep rooted love of 
home and family. In the same letter from which I have already 
quoted he said, "It is a great consolation to believe that wherever 
I may die I shall be buried near my family." Again, a short 
half year before the outbreak of our Civil War, we find him writ- 
ing home to provide for retaining the old family pew — "the one 
our father and mother always occupied." His letters to his sister 
Emily were constant and to them we are indebted for the most 
illuminating exposition of his private character. He loved his 
family with an intense love and through these letters constantly 
showered upon them the most unreserved expressions of affection 
and consideration. In the midst of cruel war his mind was ever 
turning home and his yearning found vent in the expression of 
the unfulfilled intention that "if this war is ever terminated I 
intend now to leave the service and live a quiet and, I hope, a 
happy life at my old home." 

To a strong religious faith and love of home John Sedgwick 
added the virtue of modesty. The man who led the Greek cross 
of the Sixth Corps to undying fame expressed in 1862 the fear 
that the command of 13,000 men was above his capacity. And, 
again, when it seemed that Sedgwick could have had command 
of the Army of the Potomac by simply stretching forth his hand, 
he would not make the move. Whether or not it would have 
been for the advantage of the Union cause for him to have taken 
this command is not for us to say. Suffice it that we truly appre- 
ciate the self-abnegation of one who subordinated ambition and 
self to what he thought to be the best interest of his country. 
And, Oh ! how loyal he was. When McClellan began to lose 
favor Sedgwick stood back of him like a rock, saying, "I mean to 

69 



stand or fall with McClellan. He has been very kind to me, 
giving me a large command without my asking for it, and I am 
afraid too large for my deserts, and I believe they are determined 
to crush him." 

Modest in his estimate of his own deserts, so was he generous 
in praise of his subordinates — always heartily commending their 
worthy deeds and expressing their claims for advancement. 

Generous, loyal, modest, genial, home-loving, affectionate- 
no wonder that John Sedgwick gripped men to him by the, steely 
bands of love. Had he never found in war's havoc the setting 
for an enduring glory, the loveliness and truth of his private 
character would have created a lasting tradition among those with 
whom he came in contact. 

To do justice to the military career of General Sedgwick, I 
will not attempt today. The mere reading of his military record 
sounds like a roster of world famous battles. Disregarding 
minor operations against the Indians, we read the Siege of Vera 
Cruz ; Cerro Gordo, Amazoque, San Antonio, Churubusco, where 
he was brevetted Captain for gallantry ; Molino del Rev, Chapul- 
tepec, where again brevetted Major for gallantry, and the capture 
of Mexico City. Then came an interval of quasi peace, disturbed 
by Indian fights and border disturbances in Kansas. Now Fort 
Sumter sounds the call to resume the record already note- 
worthy. In the defences at Washington, Assistant Inspector 
General ; Brigade Commander, Division Commander guarding the 
Potomac; Division Commander in Virginia Peninsula campaign, 
Siege of Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, Savage's Station, 
Glendale, where he was wounded ; Northern Virginia campaign on 
the retreat from Bull Run to Washington, Maryland campaign, 
Antietam, where he was thrice wounded ; the Rappahannock 
campaign, storming of Marye Heights, Salem, Gettysburg, Rapi- 
dan, Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness and 
Spottsylvania — always in the van of battle, ever the special 
dependence of his superiors, calm, knowing no fear ; prompt, cool, 
determined, never faltering. Why he was not killed a hundred 
times before only the God of Battles can reply. Why he was not 

70 



spared to see the cause he fought for succeed, only the God of 
Battles fully knows. 

We stand upon a battlefield significant for all time in the his- 
tory of the world. With Marathon and Tours and Waterloo the 
fame of Gettysburg will endure as long as man is interested in 
his own condition, for here it was decided that the nation holding 
more of hope for mankind than any that had trod the earth since 
Israel walked in union with Jehovah was not to be disrupted by 
the throes of civil convulsion. When Yicksburg fell and Lee 
recoiled from Gettysburg the cause of the Confederacy was 
doomed. Every general who led troops on this field has written 
his name forever in the hall of fame. The name of every man, 
whether he rank as private or general, who fought here should 
be cherished with patriotic reverence down the generations of hi3 
descendants. 

Many of you remember the fatigue and agony of that night 
march to the battle — the summons from Meade received at 9 
o'clock, after a hard day of marching and work — already wearied 
at the start ; the iron will of Sedgwick pushing the column. The 
intense heat of that July night ; the dust, the sweat ; the bleeding 
feet ; the head seeming about to burst, but no faltering, no stop- 
ping. The order from Meade is peremptory — the fate of the 
Union may depend upon the timely arrival of the Sixth Corps. 
Better a few killed by marching than an army destroyed. It does 
not seem that human flesh and human spirit can stand the strain. 
Thirty-six miles in seventeen hours. The sounds of the battle 
are heard ; the booming of the cannon and the rattle of musketry 
speak the dire need for the Sixth Corps. The line of battle is 
approached ; brigades are detached hither and yon to the support 
of the suffering Union lines. Brigade after brigade is sent off 
by the General till finally he virtually is without a command. He 
has accomplished his task — he has led one of the famous marches 
of all time by his indomitable will, unfaltering courage and the 
heroic devotion of his men, has clinched the victory and perhaps 
saved the life of his country. 

Less than a year later the soul of John Sedgwick was sped to 



God by a bullet. Heaven was enriched by another pure spirit ; 
mankind, though bereaved, was left a high example. 

When the threat of foreign foes perturbs the nation, or the 
violence of internal anarchy would convulse us, or the lust of 
greed oppresses us, or the sins of immoral luxury undermine us, 
give us men like Sedgwick, seeking not their own but their coun- 
try's ; ready to die for conscience sake. Woe be to the nation that 
forgets her heroes. Keep green the memory of our martyrs ; 
teach the children the great deeds of their forebears ; kindle the 
torch of patriotism with the fire of zeal and devotion. Hold to 
tne things that are good. Preserve the simplicity and liberty of 
our political life and, under God, our country will survive the 
centuries in an ever continuing increase of greatness and justice. 

Your Excellency : It is indeed an honor and pleasure for me 
to accept, on behalf of the War Department, the splendid 
memorial of Major-General John Sedgwick, provided by the State 
of Connecticut. 



At the conclusion of the exercises the Chairman, on behalf of 
the Commission, in fitting words thanked the National Battlefield 
Commission for their kindness and courtesy shown during the 
progress of the work ; Major Lasseigne, his officers and command 
for their presence at the dedication, and all who contributed to 
the services of the hour. 



SINGING OF AMERICA. 
TAPS. 

BENEDICTION. 

72 



SUPPLEMENTARY 
PROCEEDINGS 

BY THE 

"SIXTH CORPS" SOCIETY 
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 

JULY 1, 1913 



DEDICATION BY THE SIXTH ARMY CORPS, 



In connection with the official presentation of this monument 
the members of the Sixth Corps and others who served with 
Sedgwick at this Gettysburg battle, held another dedicatory cele- 
bration on the ist of July, so many of them not being able to 
be present on the 19th of June. 

The following call by the Society of the Sixth Army Corps 
had been issued : 

New York, June 5, 1913. 

The Commissioners appointed by the Governor of Connecticut 
to erect an equestrian statue of Major-General John Sedgwick' 
on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, have completed their work, and 
have arranged to dedicate the statue at 11 o'clock a. m. on June 
19, 1913. The statue is located on Sedgwick Avenue, near the 
foot of Little Round Top. 

It is especially appropriate that the members of this society 
and all survivors of the corps should be present on this occasion 
to honor the memory of their beloved commander, who gave his 
life to the country at Spottsylvania, May 9, 1864. 

To further honor the memory of General Sedgwick, a meeting 
is being planned which will probably be held at the statue July 
ist or 2d. At this meeting all survivors of the Corps who may 
be in Gettysburg at that time are earnestly invited to be present. 

Gen. G. A. Goodale, President, 

Wakefield, Mass. 
Henry C. LaRowe, Secretary, 

139 Reade Street, New York. 



The meeting was presided over by Colonel Andrew Cowan, 
President of the Societv of the Army of the Potomac. 



77 



MEMORIAL SERVICE, JULY 1, 1913 



A group of distinguished veterans and others assembled at the 
Sedgwick Equestrian Statue, dedicated June 19th, to hold a 
Memorial Service in honor of General John Sedgwick, beloved 
commander of the Sixth Corps. A great laurel wreath, decorated 
with an armful of roses, covered the front of the pedestal. This 
beautiful and effective decoration was the work of Comrade Wil- 
liam J. Wray of Philadelpria, who ordered the wreath for Colonel 
Cowan and had brought the roses himself. The old flag of the 
Artillery Brigade, of which Colonel Andrew Cowan was the last 
commander, and a Sixth Corps headquarters flag, brought by 
Comrade H. C. LaRowe, were displayed at either side of the 
monument. In the absence of General G. A. Goodale, U. S. A., 
President of the Society of the Sixth Corps, the exercises were 
opened by Colonel Andrew Cowan ( former commander of the 
Artillery lirigade and now President of the Society of the Army 
of the Potomac) with a brief speech, recalling the four able com- 
manders of the Sixth Corps, Generals Franklin, Smith, Sedgwick 
and Wright. Colonel Cowan served with the Sixth Corps from 
its organization until the end of the war. The Rev. Dr. William 
S. Hubbell, Chaplain of the Medal of Honor Society, offered the 
invocation. The Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, Governor of Con- 
necticut, then made an appropriate and pleasing address. The 
report of the Sixth Corps Sedgwick Monument Committee was 
read by Prof. John A. Himes, Secretary of the Committee, and 
an honorary member of the Sixth Corps Society. General Elisha 
H. Rhodes, Second Rhode Island Infantry, Sixth Corps, delivered 
a fitting and dignified memorial oration. A fervid patriotic 
address was made by Captain John H. Leathers Second Virginia 
Infantry of the Stonewall Brigade, Arm)' of Northern Virginia, 

78 




o 

X) 



who was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg. Mr. H. K. Bush- 
Brown, the sculptor, followed with a few eloquent and patriotic 
remarks. General Horatio C. King, Secretary of the Society of 
the Army of the Potomac, made the closing address, which was 
warmly applauded. The Rev. Hubbell pronounced the bene- 
diction. The service was greatly appreciated and enjoyed, 
although the day was intensely hot. 



The members of the Sixth Army Corps Memorial Committee 
are as follows : 

Brevet Maj. Gen'l Alexander Shaeer. Ridgefield, N. J. 
Brevet Maj. Gi.x'l Newton M. Curtis, Ogdensburg, N. Y. 
Brigadier Gen'e Wm. H. Seward. Auburn, N. Y. 
Brigadier Gen'e Charles A. Whittier, Boston, Mass. 
Colonel Gardner C. Hawkins, 4th Vt. Vols., Winthrop, Mass. 
Brevet Lieut. Col. Chas. A. Clark. 6th Maine Vols., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
Brevet Lieut. Col. Andrew Cowan, Artillery Brigade 6th Corps, Louis- 
ville, Ky. 
Brevet Lieut. Col. Osgood V. Tracy, i22d N. Y. Vols., Syracuse, N. Y. 
LiEuT. Orsamus R. Fveer, 2d Conn. V. H. A., Torrington, Conn. 
Lieut. Dwight C. Kiedourn, 2d Conn. V. H. A., Litchfield, Conn. 

PROF. John A. HiMES, Honorary Member 6th Corps Society, Gettysburg, 
Pa. 

Serg't Henry C. LaRowe, Secty. 6th Corps Society, 14th X. J. Vols., New 

York City. 
Serg't Wm. H. Loomis, icth-Mass. Vols., Rockville, Conn. 
Serg't Thos. D. Bradstreet. 2d Conn. Y. H. A., Thomaston, Conn. 
Corp'l Lyman A. Upson, 62d N. Y. Vols., Thompsonville, Conn. 
Private Will am J. YYkay, 23d Pa. Vols., Philadelphia, Pa. 
Private Chas. H. Pine, 2d Conn. V. H. A., Ansonia, Conn. 
Private Wm. F. Hilton, 23d Penn. Vols., Hartford, Conn. 
Private J. Weed Corey, IX. B., 32d N. Y. Vols., Washington, D. C. 



79 



ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY 

SIMEON E. BALDWIN, GOVERNOR OF THE 

STATE OF CONNECTICUT 



Last month this monument to a great soldier was solemnly 
dedicated by his native state as an enduring memorial of what he 
here did for his country. 

His countrymen, from many states, assemble now to testify 
their personal appreciation of General Sedgwick's life and ser- 
vices. At no other spot could it be so fitly done. 

Here he stood at a critical period in the great battle. 

There are turning points in human history ; turning points in 
the career of a military commander ; turning points, less con- 
spicuous in the life of each of us. What use do we make of the 
opportunities which they present? The answer will make our 
success, in the part that God assigns to us, or our failure. Every 
man's life, said a great thinker, and a great citizen of Connecti- 
cut, — Horace Bushnell, — every man's life is a plan of God for 
him. 

General Sedgwick knew how to take advantage of such a turn- 
ing point, when it came to him. 

His forced march of thirty-four miles turned the tide of battle 
on one of the great and fateful days of the history of the United 
States. He had strong men to contend with. He had a strong 
man to command him. He had a great part to play here, and he 
played it well. 

The Sixth Corps comes today to lay a laurel wreath on this 
stately monument. 

"Palmam," said the Roman, "qui meruit ferat." The laurel of 
fame let him wear who has deserved it. 

Connecticut is proud, that to one of her sons comes this 
laurel, — a glad testimony of the loyalty to his memory felt by the 
survivors of his old command. 

80 




SIMEON E. BALDWIN, GOVERNOR OE CONNECTICUT. 



GENERAL HORATIO C. KING DELIVERED 
THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS 



Comrades and Friends: 

I esteem it a great privilege, even though called upon unexpect- 
edly, to say a few words on an occasion of such interest as this. 
Although not a member of the Sixth Corps, I was pretty 
intimately associated with it in its memorable campaign under 
General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. I was than a mem- 
ber of the staff of General Merritt, Commander of the First 
Division, and we were for many months in close contact with 
that splendid and unsurpassed Sixth Corps. Some of you will 
remember Colonel Lowry of Utica, who was something of a wag 
and always insisted that the Sixth Corps suppressed the Rebel- 
lion and that he incidentally is the member of that Corps who 
himself accomplished that important result. His logic was always 
received with smiles and cheers, but no one can over rate the 
value of the services of the Corps both under Sedgwick and 
General Wright, who commanded the Corps after Sedgwick's 
death and until the end of the operations. In the valley it had 
to keep up with the cavalry and so successful was it that it earned 
the soubriquet of the "two legged cavalry," and it responded as 
promptly to the call of "Boots and Saddles" as to the order, 
"Attention." It was not my good fortune to know General Sedg- 
wick personally, but I have had such close intimacy with General 
McMahon, into whose arms the gallant soldier fell at Spottsyl- 
vania Court House, I seem almost to have known him intimately. 
No greater admirer of Sedgwick ever lived than General M. T. 
McMahon, whose lovely disposition and exalted character are 
a cherished memory with his hosts of friends, and his descriptions 
of his beloved commander on many occasions, both oral and 
written, are worthy of perpetuation. He often spoke of the 
personal magnetism of General Sedgwick which made him the 
idol of his men, who having the utmost confidence in his soldierly 
courage, would obey his orders promptly, eagerly and without 
question. 



In this extreme heat I feel that I would not be justified in 
detaining you longer, but I am glad to pay this tribute to the 
memory of one of the greatest officers of the Civil War, whose 
untimely death deprived the Corps of its most conspicuous com- 
mander and in all probability the Army of the Potomac of a 
brilliant chief. I congratulate the State of Connecticut, that 
through the sculptor, Mr. Bush-Brown, they have secured a 
splendid monument which will perpetuate, as long as the bronze 
shall last, the name and fame of this markedly distinguished 
officer of the Civil War. , 



A TRIBUTE TO "UNCLE JOHN." 

BY A VETERAN OF THE SIXTH CORPS. 

Brave Sedgwick has fallen, but his deeds remain bright 
As the stars in the blue vaulted heaven at night. 
While death shots were flying, these words were his last — 
"Don't flinch, my brave boys, stand firm to your post.'' 

A nation now mourns him, who with face to the foe, 
Led the Sixth Army Corps through weal and through woe. 
While death shots were flying, these words were his last — 
"Don't flinch, my brave boys, stand firm to your post.'' 

We mourn a brave chieftain, true soldier, a friend : 
On his courage and skill his corps could depend. 
He now sleeps with his friends — in peace let them rest : 
We will, like our late comrades, stand firm to our post. 

Take courage, my boys : though your leader has gone, 
His brilliant example should with pride lead us on. 
And remember, my comrades, these words were his last — 
"Don't flinch from your duty, stand firm to your post." 

82 




PROF. JOHN A. IlIMES OF PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE. 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE 

SIXTH CORPS SOCIETY SEDGWICK 

MONUMENT COMMITTEE 



General G. A. Goodale, President of the Society of the Sixth 
Corps of the Army of the Potomac: 

At a reunion of the Yale Class of 187 1, in June, 1906, I drew 
the attention of my distinguished classmate, Mr. Charles Hopkins 
Clark, editor of the "Hartford Courant," to the duty and privilege 
of Connecticut to erect an equestrian statue of her illustrious 
soldier and patriot, Major-General John Sedgwick, on the battle- 
field of Gettysburg. He replied by offering the use of his columns 
for whatever I might- wish to write on that subject to the people 
of Connecticut, and suggested that the most opportune time would 
be when the Legislature was in session. A few months later, on 
the occasion of a visit of General Shaler and survivors of his 
brigade of the Sixth Corps I seized the opportunity to get their 
signatures to a petition to be presented to the Legislature at its 
approaching session. For various reasons this petition was not 
presented, but, inasmuch as General Shaler was a native of Con- 
necticut, I felt that I had gained an important ally. My friend, 
Mr. Huber Gray Buehler, headmaster of the Hotchkiss School, 
gave valuable assistance by means of lectures on the Battle of 
Gettysburg and by private influence. My letter to the "Courant," 
illustrated with photographs of statues already erected by other 
states to their corps commanders, appeared in January, 1907, with 
the support of an editorial note. This letter became the basis of 
considerable correspondence and drew out other letters which 
were printed in Hartford papers, especially from Colonel Charles 
A. Clark, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and General Lewis A. Grant, of 

83 



Minneapolis, Minn. General Frank D. Sloat, of Washington, a 
native of Connecticut, did much to enlist the support of influential 
friends in New Haven and Bridgeport. 

Earnestly desiring the success of this project the Sixth Corps 
Society of the Army of the Potomac, at its meeting in Washing- 
ton, May 2, 1907, on motion of Colonel Andrew Cowan, who was 
present at the urgent request of General Shaler, passed resolu- 
tions of approval and appointed a committee of five, with instruc- 
tions to enlarge the number for the purpose of encouraging the 
movement to honor their former commander. The original com- 
mittee consisted of General Alexander Shaler, Chairman ; General 
Newton M. Curtis, Colonel Andrew Cowan, J. Weed Corey, Esq., 
and Prof. John A. Himes, elected an honorary member, Secretary. 

At the session of the Connecticut Legislature in 1907 a resolu- 
tion was introduced appropriating $5,000 for a statue of heroic 
size. This was unsatisfactory to Sixth Corps men who desired 
an equestrian statue equal to the statues of the other corps com- 
manders. 

The Legislature adjourned without passing the bill, though 
leaving it in a hopeful shape, with the strong support of the Put- 
nam Phalanx of Hartford, the State Department of the G. A. R. 
and the interest of other organizations and influential citizens. 

During the summer the membership of the Sixth Corps 
Society Committee was raised to the number of nineteen by the 
enrollment of the following additional names : General William H. 
Seward, General Charles A. Whittier, Colonel Gardner C. Haw- 
kins, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles A. Clark, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Osgood V. Tracy, Lieutenant Orsamus R. Fyler, Lieutenant 
Dwight C. Kilbourn, Sergeant Henry C. La Rowe, Sergeant Wil- 
liam H. Loomis, Corporal Lyman A. Upson and Privates William 
J. Wray, Charles H. Pine and William F. Hilton. 

A few comprehensive words will tell what was done by the 
committee. It obtained a pledge of hearty support for the monu- 
ment project from the Society of the Army of the Potomac at its 
reunion, held in LJtica, N. Y., June 26, 1908. It carried on cor- 
respondence with members of the Sixth Corps and with influential 

84 



residents of Connecticut. Soon after the Legislature of 1909 was 
elected, it addressed an appeal to the members-elect asking for 
their support of the movement to honor the memory of the illus- 
trious soldier. 

In 1909 Dr. James T. Sedgwick, of Litchfield, a distant rela- 
tive of the General, introduced in the Connecticut Legislature a 
resolution appropriating $25,000 for an equestrian statue of 
General Sedgwick, to be erected on the field of Gettysburg, which 
was passed, and became a law by the signature of the Governor, 
the Hon. Frank B. Weeks, June 29, 1909. 

The Commission appointed by the Governor to carry out the 
purpose of the bill were Charles H. Pine, Charles F. Linsley, 
Orsamus R. Fyler, Dwight C. Kilbourn and Rockwell H. Potter. 
A site for the monument was selected by these gentlemen, in con- 
junction with the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission, 
in a field along Sedgwick Avenue, near Little Round Top. In 
November Mr. Fyler died and Elisha J. Steele was appointed in 
his stead. 

This Commission, under the competent chairman, General 
Pine, engaged Mr. H. K. Bush-Brown, a sculptor favorably 
known for his good work at Gettysburg and elsewhere, to perform 
the task of creating the monument. The dedication took place 
on June 19th, 1913, in the presence of a delegation from Con- 
necticut, a number of veterans, a battalion of the Fifth U. S. 
Regular Infantry, and citizens of the vicinity. The weather was 
propitious ; the exercises were orderly and dignified ; the orations 
were worthy of the great occasion ; and the monument is univer- 
sally admired for its artistic excellence. 

Fairly to apportion credit for the result obtained is from the 
nature of the case impracticable. The most strenuous efforts 
were required at Hartford and were exerted, no doubt, in many 
cases by persons whose names have not reached your Secretary. 
Besides the influential and responsible State Commission and 
others already named, I may mention among those whose zeal 
brought them into correspondence with your committee, General 
Henry C. Dwight, General Alexander Harbison, Surgeon Henry 

85 



Bickford and Rollin U. Tyler, Esq., the last named the special 
representative of General Shaler. 

Of the eighteen Sixth Corps men on your committee, one- 
third have already entered the immortal life — General Charles A. 
Whittier, a favorite staff offcer of General Sedgwick ; Colonel 
Osgood V. Tracy, a relative by marriage with his niece ; General 
Newton M. Curtis, "the hero of Fort Fisher ;" Lieutenant Orsa- 
mus R. Fyler, to whose importance on the State Commission his 
associates fervently testify ; Sergeant William H. Loomis and 
Chairman Alexander Shaler, a brigadier in the fierce struggle with 
Johnson at Culp's Hill. They attained a venerable age, yet we 
cannot help grieving that they could not survive to see with their 
own eyes this noble memorial which they labored for with such 
devotion. 

The large knowledge of Sixth Corps men possessed by Sec- 
retary Henry C. La Rowe was freely put at the service of the 
committee. William J. Wray, Secretary of the Sedgwick Monu- 
ment Committee of Spottsylvania, rendered important and enthu- 
siastic help. The partial disablement of General Shaler during 
nearly the whole period of his chairmanship caused his duties to 
devolve upon Colonel Cowan, who assumed them with energy 
and generously met all expenses for printing, stationery and pos- 
tage. 

Here the work of the committee ends. Permit me to express 
my profound pleasure at having been allowed during these recent 
years to enjoy such delightful relations with the soldiers of the 
old Sixth Corps. 

John A. Himes, 

Secretary of the Sixth Corps 
Sedgwick Monument Committee 



86 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

In presenting this report the Commission wish to acknowl- 
edge our thankfulness to all who have contributed to the success- 
ful issue of the work. It is simply impossible to specify by name 
all those who gave us a helping hand. We only name a few. 

To Mr. H. K. Bush-Brown, the designer, sculptor and con- 
tractor of the monument our especial thanks are due. He being 
of Connecticut ancestry, took the contract at a low price, wishing 
to do it out of pride for the state, and well and faithfully he 
executed the work. To Col. John P. Nicholson, chairman, and 
members of the National Park Commission, we extend our 
thanks for their valuable assistance, and for their constant 
and careful watchfulness of all the details of the erection 
of the statue, and to Col. Cope, the engineer of the above named 
Commission, who was with General Sedgwick at the battle fifty 
years before, and who took great pride in this testimonial to his 
old commander. We extend our thanks to the Trumpeters of 
the Fifth U. S. Infantry, whose presence and military music 
were such an addition to the dedication exercises. 

The frequent -and painstaking correspondence of Prof. John A. 
Himes of Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, was of great assist- 
ance to our Commission and made it possible to avoid several trips 
to the battlefield while the work was in progress. 

To Col. Andrew Cowan thanks are tendered for his infor- 
mation and reports, from which copious extracts are taken. He 
was a prominent actor on the field as will be seen in this report, 
and the two small pictures of him represent him as a young 
captain, and as he is now, in his J2& year, a prominent citizen of 
Louisville, Kentucky, where he located in business July, 1866. 

Thanks are due to Edward B. Eaton of Hartford, the owner 
of the "Brady War Photographs," for the loan of the picture of 
"Sedgwick and his staff." 

Nearly all of the plates for the illustrations have been 
engraved by the Hartford Engraving Co., from old and faded 
originals. 

Much credit is due Mr. Wessells, of that firm, for the inter- 
ested care and skill he has shown in making the pictures as 
nearly perfect as they are. 

87 



FINANCIAL STATEMENT 



The Major General John Sedgwick Equestrian Statue Commis- 
sion in account with State of Connecticut. 



$25,000 



By amount app 


ropriated by the Legislature . 




1909 Dec. 


11 


Paid (). R. Fyler . . . 


$ 33-2Q 


19 10 Jan. 


21 


D. C. Kilbourn 


53-66 


Nov. 


19 


" C. H. Pine . . . 


58-94 


Dec. 


16 


H. K. Bush- Brown Co. 


4,700.00 


191 1 Oct. 


30 


E. J. Steele, Treas. 


95-/8 


Nov. 


4 


Chas. F. Linsley . 


56.07 


1912 Jan. 


13 


E. J. Steele, Treas. 


131.48 


Jan. 


25 


Chas. H. Pine 


22.17 


Jan. 


V 


H. K. Bush-Brown Co. 


4,700.00 


Oct. 


28 


E. J. Steele, Treas. 


109.89 


Dec. 


i/ 


H. K. Bush-Brown Co. 


4,700.00 


1913 May 


21 


E. J. Steele, Treas. 


126.76 


May 


21 


H. K. Bush-Brown Co. 


6,000.00 


June 


20 


H. K. Bush- Brown Co. 


3,400.00 


June 


20 


E. J. Steele, Treas. 

D. C. Kilbourn, expenses 


405-19 






preparing report 


36.60 






Returned to State Treas. 


370.26 



$25,000 



MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK 



In Memoriam. 
by hox. gideon h. iiollister. 

A little valley fenced by natural walls ; 

Through it a brook winds toward the neighboring river 
A little grave-yard where the sunlight falls 

On green mounds, over which no willows shiver, 
Nor leaves of pine that on the mountain's head 
Keep the wild snow-drifts from their peaceful bed. 

Let the dust sleep among its kindred dust! 

Father and mother, loving friend and neighbor! 
And let the mountain-pine, true to its trust 

Even like the hero, buffet and belabor 
The wintry blast upon the distant hill. 
Forever hallowed be that spot and still. 

Yet Sedgwick sleeps not there ! for soul like his 
Sleeps never after death. At once it enters 

Into the living forms of all that is. 

Haunting the ages, lighting up the centres 

Of crumbling states, and waning, wasting creeds, 

And touching dead shapes into living deeds. 

We bid thee not farewell ; cold as we are. 

We welcome thee in all familiar places ; 
We see thee in the eagle, in the star. 

And hail thee in a thousand happy faces, 
That smile upon our flag, on land or sea, 
The symbol yet of faith and type of thee. 

89 



